Vessel strikes are a significant threat to sea turtles. Today I will be tweeting about the work I conducted with @natuula@mattware_phd and @zedtweetz on conservation interventions to reduce vessel strikes on sea turtles, funded by @NFWF#SeaTurtleTalks 🚤 + 🐢 = 😟 1/7
Targeted conservation strategies are needed to reduce vessel strikes on sea turtles, and successful integration of stakeholder perspectives is necessary for conservation success. To identify potential strategies, we conducted a multi-step approach. 2/7
First, we conducted a workshop with experts to identify challenges and opportunities related to potential interventions that could be used to reduce sea turtle vessel strikes in Florida. 🐢🐢🐢🐢🚤🚤 3/7 3/7
Interventions identified in the Workshop were incorporated into a questionnaire to survey recreational boaters. We administered it around the St. Lucie Inlet, an area identified as a vessel strike “hot spot” in Florida 4/7 4/7
We found that greater support existed if interventions 1) were voluntary, 2) overlapped with existing interventions or added minimal new restrictions, & 3) were accompanied by educational materials. Outreach should be used together to avoid information overload. 5/7
Any outreach & awareness activity must work with local boating communities. Researchers & managers should educate themselves about the local boater demographics & preferences, boating cultures & waterscapes before, during & after such interventions. 6/7