Meeting Abstract

P3.151  Tuesday, Jan. 6  Seasonal Variation and Maternal Investment of the Loggerhead Sea Turtle Caretta caretta KLEIN, T. A.*; ROSTAL, D. C.; WILLIAMS, K. L.; FRICK, M. G.; PAIGE, J. I.; Georgia Southern University; Georgia Southern University; Caretta Research Project; Ceretta Research Project; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service taklein85@yahoo.com

Female loggerhead sea turtles Caretta caretta were studied on WASAW and Blackbeard Island National Wildlife Refuge and in 2008 nesting season. Nesting activity occurred from May until early August. Nest hatching occurred from July to September. The incubation period for loggerheads in Georgia is typically ~60 days. A total of 30 different nesting females and different aspects of their nests were studied (10 early, 10 mid, 10 late season nests). Nest depth, clutch size, egg size, mean nest temperature, and hatchling size were compared. Temperature data loggers were placed in the center of the nests and temperature was recorded every 2 hours until hatching occurred. Twenty eggs were measured from the 30 nests. Six eggs per clutch per clutch were collected for composition analysis from WASAW Island. Nests that were expected to hatch were monitored for hatchling emergence. Upon emergence, the straight carapace length, width, and depth for up to 20 hatchlings was recorded from all nests with data loggers. It has been observed that while larger females tend to have larger eggs and clutches, that within females, egg size decreases as season progresses while clutch size remains the same. The measuring of egg and hatchling components could shed light on how biological and physical traits of loggerhead nest environments affect embryonic development.