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Ecoloeical Associates, Inc. — Revised Cost Proposal and Scope of Work 2 <br />Task 2: Sea Turtle Nesting Surveys and Data Management <br />Daily morning sea turtle nesting surveys will be conducted beginning March 1, 2023 <br />and will continue uninterrupted through September 30, 2023. Thereafter, surveys will <br />be performed three days per week until the last marked nest has been evaluated. <br />Surveys will commence within 30 minutes of sunrise. Monitoring will be performed <br />by EAI staff either on foot or using ATVs. <br />All emergences (turtle crawls) apparent from the previous night will be interpreted to <br />determine which species of turtle came ashore and whether or not it nested. Crawls will <br />be denoted as being above or below the previous high tide line. The approximate <br />geographic location of each crawl will be determined by GPS (sub -meter accuracy). In <br />addition to segregating crawls into nesting and non -nesting emergences (false crawls), <br />each false crawl will be assigned to one of the following categories denoting the stage <br />at which the nesting attempt was abandoned: no digging, abandoned body pit, or <br />abandoned egg cavity. Any obstacles encountered by turtles during their crawls will be <br />documented. <br />Disorientation Reporting. During the course of daily monitoring, any evidence of <br />hatchling misorientation or disorientation from either marked or unmarked nests will <br />be documented using FWC's electronic Marine Turtle Hatchling Disorientation <br />Incident Report Form. Based on track evaluations, an estimate of the number of <br />hatchlings disoriented will be recorded and light sources potentially responsible for the <br />disorientation identified. Information concerning each incident will be forwarded by <br />email on a weekly basis to Indian River County so appropriate remedial action may be <br />taken. <br />Stranding and Salvage. A requirement of FWC sea turtle permit holders conducting <br />nesting surveys is to respond to the stranding of sick, injured and dead sea turtles within <br />their survey area. These animals are examined, and if alive, transported to state - <br />approved care facilities. A standard Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage data form will <br />be completed and submitted for each stranded animal encountered by EAI. This <br />information will be transmitted to FWC in accordance with established guidelines. <br />State and Federal Authorizations. All sea turtle monitoring and related activities will <br />be performed under FWC Marine Turtle Permit #261 issued by FWC to EAI Director <br />of Operations Niki Desjardin or Marine Turtle Permit #277 issued to Senior Scientist <br />Joseph Scarola. All persons engaged in monitoring for Indian River County will be <br />listed on the permits. <br />All data will be subject to rigorous QA/QC protocols and stored in EAI's project - <br />specific database. Weekly crawl and predation data, along with monthly summary <br />reports will be furnished to Indian River County. These monthly reports will tabulate <br />the dates and times of monitoring, names of monitoring personnel, numbers of sea turtle <br />emergences by species, and numbers of nests marked and evaluated for reproductive <br />