GTM RESEARCH RESERVE OFFERS LECTURE ABOUT FEMALE SEA TURTLE FORAGING HABITS

Florida DEP Banner

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 12, 2014

CONTACT: Patrician Price, 904-823-4506, Patrician.D.Price@dep.state.fl.us

GTM RESEARCH RESERVE OFFERS LECTURE ABOUT FEMALE SEA TURTLE FORAGING HABITS

~Attendees will learn where turtles travel before nesting~


PONTE VEDRA BEACH  The Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve hosts a free lecture for the public titled, "Where Female Sea Turtles Forage Before Nesting," on Tuesday, Nov. 18 from 10-11 a.m. at the Marineland field office. 

"Answers relating to female sea turtles’ foraging habits before nesting can lead to important conservation and management practices for protecting foraging regions," said Michael Shirley, director of the GTM Research Reserve. "The answers could help to ensure successful nesting and hatching of the sea turtles on local beaches."

Where female sea turtles lay their eggs is known, but where they were and what they were eating in the interim are questions that will be addressed during the lecture.

Kaitlyn Dietz, marine biologist at GTM Research Reserve, will explain the processes that she uses to better understand the movement and foraging habits of female Atlantic Green and Loggerhead sea turtles that nest on the beaches in Northeast Florida. This project analyzes hatched and unfertilized eggs to learn what the females were eating, which indicates where they last foraged.

Dietz received her bachelor's degree in biology from Georgia College and State University. She has worked as a teaching assistant in marine biology, volunteered with dolphin surveys in the St. Johns River and assisted the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission on manatee and dolphin necropsies.

The lecture is one of an ongoing third-Tuesday-of-the-month lecture series designed to help inform the public about their coastal natural world. These events are free, but space is limited and reservations are requested. Reservations can be made online here or by calling 904-823-4500.

WHAT:     Lecture: 'Where Female Sea Turtles Forage Before Nesting'

WHEN:    Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014
                10-11 a.m.

WHERE:   GTM Research Reserve Marineland Field Office
                 9741 North Shore Blvd.
                 Marineland, FL 32137