title: Recreational boats and turtles: behavioral mismatches result in high rates of injury.
abstract: Recreational boats are a dominant feature of estuarine waters in the United States. Boat strike injury and mortality may have a detrimental effect on populations of diamondback terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin), a keystone species in estuarine ecosystems. In Barnegat Bay, New Jersey, 11% of terrapins (n = 2,644) have scars consistent with injuries from boats. Conservative estimates of injury rates from boats increased from 2006 to 2011. When exposed to playback recordings of approaching boat engines of varying sizes and speeds in situ, terrapins did not significantly change their behavior in response to sounds of boat engines of different sizes. The lack of behavioral response of terrapins to boat sounds helps explain high rates of injury and mortality of terrapins and may threaten the viability of terrapin populations. Boater education courses that discuss impacts of boats to wildlife, combined with closure of areas of high terrapin densities to boating, are necessary to protect terrapins and other aquatic species from injury and mortality caused by motorized boats.
authors.affiliation: Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Delaware State University, Dover, Delaware, United States of America ; Department of Biology, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
authors.forename: Lori A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Lester
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America ; The Leatherback Trust, Haddonfield, New Jersey, United States of America.
authors.forename: Harold W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Avery
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Buffalo State College, Buffalo, New York, United States of America ; Williamsville Central Schools, Williamsville, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: Andrew S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Harrison
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Buffalo State College, Buffalo, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: Edward A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Standora
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009515:New Jersey; D011998:Recreation; D012767:Ships; D013016:Sound; D013550:Swimming; D013637:Tape Recording; D014426:Turtles / Q000502:physiology*; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000473:pathology*