Project period: 4 8 15-4 7 25PROJECT title: aerial surveys for nesting sea turtle activity along the louisiana coastto help assess the injury to nesting sea turtles from the deepwater horizon oil…

Project period: 4 8 15-4 7 25PROJECT title: aerial surveys for nesting sea turtle activity along the louisiana coastto help assess the injury to nesting sea turtles from the deepwater horizon oil spill- a complete understanding of trends in numbers of sea turtle nests laid each year is necessary. However- accessing some areas that may support turtle nesting- including much of louisianas coastline and barrier islands- creates challenges to conducting repeatable cost-effective surveys. Because of these challenges- few attempts have been made over the past decades to conduct such surveys despite sporadic- mostly anecdotal evidence of nesting. This GAP in nesting data limits our ability to assess trends in nesting activity. In 2022- the louisiana department of wildlife and fisheries (LDWF) and the coastal protection and restoration authority (CPRA) documented 55 sea turtle crawls during 10 aerial surveys of the chandeleur islands- louisiana. This suggests that the louisiana coast could support more nesting than previously believed. The avian research and conservation institute (ARCI) has been conducting aerial surveys for various wildlife species since 1997- including surveying for sea turtles and sea turtle nests in partnership with USGS. The objectives of this project are to collect aerial images over sandy beaches along the louisiana coast to identify nesting turtle crawls and nests. This activity will support usgss role in the natural resource damage assessment and restoration (NRDAR) funded project titled: baseline documentation of sea turtle nesting in louisiana- which will help conduct restoration activities to improve and increase sea turtle nesting activity in louisiana. Aerial imaging surveys will occur over a 3-week period each year over all sandy beach habitat in louisiana. Flights will be flown in a cessna-182 and flown by an experience pilot and CO-pilot. The plane will have a camera inside that is shooting photographs straight down through a hole in the bottom of the aircraft. One photograph will be taken every second and each photograph will have an associated GPS location. All photographs taken during survey will be examined for sea turtle crawls by experienced biologists.