BIO

Hello, my name is Arden Leedy and I am a sophomore at Florida State University from Gainesville, FL studying Biological Sciences. I hope to attend a pharmacy school after graduation to earn my Doctor of Pharmacy, and in the future, work in a hospital pharmacy setting. I currently work as a University Ambassador in the Visitor’s Center, where I lead prospective students and parents on campus tours. I have excellent time management, organizational, and public speaking skills. From the UROP program, I hope to dip my toes into the world of professional research and engage in a topic I am interested in. While my project does not specifically relate to the world of pharmacy, it has allowed me to conduct research on, and work with an animal that I have a deep compassion for, while still conducting research that is relevant to my major. The program will also help me to continue towards my career aspirations. After the UROP program has concluded, I hope to be able to continue working in research on this campus to further my research skills.

Loggerhead Sea Turtle Behavioral Response to Visual and Auditory Stimuli from Vessels

Abstract

Interactions between marine species and vessels can result in changes in energy expenditure, shifts in foraging activity, displacement, injuries, and even mortality. Marine turtles often use shallow coastal waters, characterized by high concentrations of boat traffic. To date, studies have focused on the potential population level effects of vessel related mortality on marine turtles. However, limited studies have focused on how vessels affect fine-scale behaviors of marine turtles. To fill this gap, we examined the behaviors of Caretta caretta (loggerhead sea turtle) in Crystal River, Florida from footage obtained from 30 Paralenz cameras deployed on the carapace of turtles for 3.5 hours. In total, there were interactions with vessels among 8 out of the 30 individuals with cameras. We extracted data on breathing and swimming patterns five minutes before and after the recorded interactions with vessels. A two-tailed paired t-test revealed no statistically significant differences in behavior (number of breaths or proportion of time in different behaviors) before and after interactions with vessels. With this, it can be said that the vessel interactions did not affect the fine scale behavior of the turtles. While in this study we did not find that vessel interactions affect marine turtle behavior, it is vital that society acknowledges the importance of their actions’ effects on this species. Future work should employ similar methods of identifying behaviors with more complex bio-loggers to understand fine scale behavior.

Keywords: marine turtles, vessel strike, auditory stimuli, visual stimuli, conservation