Jupiter Inlet Green Turtle Telemetry Study

Since March of 2005, Inwater Research Group, Inc. (IRG) has been conducting marine turtle population assessments in the Lake Worth Lagoon on behalf of the Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management (PBCERM). In 2017, the scope of this project was extended to include Jupiter Inlet, and recent research efforts documented considerable numbers of juvenile green turtles.

We plan to continue capture efforts in Jupiter Inlet to gather data on the size class distribution, fibropapillomatosis (FP) incidence and severity, and dietary preferences of sea turtles in the area. In addition, we plan to attach acoustic receivers to 8 juvenile green turtles to look the movement patterns of green turtles in the area. Specifically, we are interested in looking at whether turtles in the Jupiter Inlet have very small home ranges, or are utilizing the larger Lake Worth Lagoon habitat system.