SERSTM Logo

Southeast Regional Sea Turtle Meeting

Jekyll Island, GA (USA)

1 - 4 February 2012

Home About SERSTN Registration Info Daily Schedule Abstracts Travel & Lodging Workshops Exhibitors / Vendors Sponsors Registration Desk
• Workshops

You have the option to register for free workshops when you register for the meeting at the Registration Desk on the website. If you have already registered, you may edit your registration to add workshops. All workshops will be held on Saturday, February 4 on a first come, first served basis. Space is limited. When a workshop reaches capacity it will be closed. Please indicate your preferred workshop(s) and time slot(s). Your registration page will indicate if you are registered by the check mark in the appropriate box. If you need to cancel a workshop, please return to the Registration Desk and uncheck the box so that we may offer that spot to someone else. We will be checking to see that you are signed up before you enter the workshop and a list of attendees will be posted in the poster room at the meeting, in case you forget which workshop or which time you chose. If you experience a problem registering or canceling workshops, please contact Dean Bagley at (dean@seregturtle.org) as soon as possible so that we can fix the problem. We reserve the right to cancel a workshop for any reason and will notify you of any changes by verbal announcement at the meeting and by written message on the announcement board in the poster room. All workshops require a minimum of 30 attendees.

Lessons Learned from the 2010 Sea Turtle Cold-Stunning event in Florida - Terry Norton (Georgia Sea Turtle Center), Brian Stacy (NOAA, University of Florida), Dr. Allen Foley (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission) and Dr. Nancy Mettee (Marinelife Center of Juno Beach)

Useful information for volunteers, biologists and veterinarians when dealing with large-scale sea turtle mortality events such as the 2010 cold stunning event in Florida will be discussed. This will include preliminary identification of individual turtles, handling turtles, preventing disease transmission from turtle to turtle (FP), transport recommendations, temporary housing recommendations, dealing with large numbers of turtles rather than a few (using cold stunning as an example), managing FP in large mortality events from the population perspective, importance of diagnostic and biological sampling for further knowledge and getting a handle on the cause of a large mortality event. Applying sterile technique for field applications such as flipper tagging, biopsy, and pit tagging will also be discussed in the context of a large mortality event and for sea turtle monitoring and research programs.

8:30a.m. - 11:30a.m. Capacity 300

An Introduction to Demographic Modeling using Program MARK - Bill Kendall (Colorado State) where he teaches Program MARK and is co-author of the Program MARK instruction manual

Tag recapture and recovery models are instrumental to the estimation of sea turtle population parameters, in the face of imperfect detection, for both nesting and in-water populations. These parameters include abundance, survival, temporary emigration, remigration interval, and number of nests laid. Program MARK provides a user-friendly interface for implementing these models. Examples will be used to demonstrate the usefulness and accessibility of these models and software using sea turtle studies.

8:30a.m. - 10:00a.m. Capacity 170

10:30a.m. -12:00p.m. Capacity 170

Epibiont Identification and Ecology - Michael Frick (Caretta Research) the foremost authority on sea turtle epibionts

Sea turtles in the southeastern United States host the largest and most diverse aggregations of plants and animals (epibionts) than any other sea turtle population in the world. Epibiotic symbionts of sea turtles are capable of growing upon any surface of the host turtle that is in contact with the external environment - including the tongue and bucco-pharyngeal region (inside of the mouth). Because many epibiotic species will only thrive under certain conditions, their presence or absence on turtles provides researchers with a supplementary tool to interpret additional data sets (i.e. flipper tagging, stable isotope analyses, health assessments, pre-reproductive movements, internesting behavior, etc.). By coupling the known life histories of epibionts to those of their turtle hosts, scientists are able to view sea turtles within the context of an ecologically rich marine environment. This workshop will discuss our current understanding of the nature of the relationships between sea turtles and their epibionts. Participants will be given an overview of sea turtle epibiont ecology and informed of what studies are still needed to enhance our understanding of this aspect of sea turtle biology. A detailed visual presentation will guide participants in how to conduct epibionts collections and analyses, and interpretive specimens will also be available for handling and viewing. New, unpublished information on the barnacles that reside solely upon sea turtles will also be presented.

8:30a.m. - 10:00a.m. Capacity 170

10:30a.m. - 12:00a.m. Capacity 170

Satellite Telemetry Technical Workshop - Representatives from the leading satellite telemetry companies. Colin Hunter (Sirtrack), Stan Tomkiewicz (Telonics) and Melinda Holland (Wildlife Computers) will discuss products, attachment techniques and answer questions from the audience

Representatives from the three leading wildlife satellite telemetry companies will discuss their products, present attachment options and answer questions from the audience.

8:30a.m. - 10:00a.m. Capacity 170

10:30a.m. - 12:00a.m. Capacity 170
Home About SERSTN Registration Info Daily Schedule Abstracts Travel & Lodging Workshops Exhibitors / Vendors Sponsors Registration Desk

iConferences.org • A Service of SEATURTLE.ORG