Re: chelonia
Hi Scott, Sorry I will not be able to help you much with your questions. As far as marsh temperatures along the west coast of florida my best answer is to contact these agencies: Florida fish & wildlife conservation commission and NOAA. I know each of these agencies have “weather stations” in various locations and I think several of them are in the marsh/estuaries. Typically they sit them on channel markers. These weather stations usually monitor wind speeds, tidal flow, and water temperature. I think NOAA actually provides this data on a website. I don’t have specific phone numbers, I wish I could help more but I think this is a start. Don’t forget these are both public/government agencies so their data belongs to every citizen. Call these agencies and put in a data request, they will be happy to get this information for you (assuming they have it). Your question about sensitivities may be best answered about your own experiences you mentioned earlier. My guess is that the speed of the temperature change is more important than the actual temperature. As you mentioned, your turtles become ill after a quick drop in temperature from an 80F day. My guess is that if the water temperature decreased very slowly the turtles would be able to acclimate their self better and withstand cooler temperatures for longer periods of time. I’m not sure about fish. This is a nice discussion, I will try to locate some literature on temperature sensitivities in fish. I will get back with you on this. If I get temperature data I will also share this with you. I will continue to send our discussions to the entire group so everyone interested can read or delete. Phil Allman Environmental Specialist Collier County Natural Resources Naples, Florida 34112 —–Original Message—– From: howarsc@… [mailto:howarsc@…] Sent: Friday, January 26, 2001 10:13 AM To: diamondbackterrapins@yahoogroups.com Subject: [diamondbackterrapins] Re: chelonia Phil, Thanks for the info. One reason for an interest in some detail was the fact that most were Chelonia mydas and not Carreta. I thought Carreta over-whelmingly out numbered C. mydas along the panhandle. Also I have observed a similar occurence with macrospilota when exposed to unusually cool temperatures without days of acclimation. A 40-50F night after a day in the 80’s. I have seen ones I placed in a temporary tub outside from a 65-70F inside just go limp after temps in the water dropped below 55F. They cannot swim and seem to drown after a few hours. If they do survive then they usually have pneumonia. I have seen some tolerate below 50 when the water temp is “buffered” down slowly (over days). My next question for you would be if you are familar with any data on marsh temperatures at 12inches of substrate in the gulf from 10000 island area north to the panhandle. I think this could be interesting for some of us interested in the “subtropical” subspecies. Sensitivities to temperatures by C. mydas, pompano, permit, and snook; I just had some long standing questions without much supporting information on some others. Thanks, Scott — In diamondbackterrapins@y…, allman_p