The loggerhead sea turtle is an oceanic turtle found throughout the world, including the Sunshine State. This marine reptile belongs to the family Cheloniidae (which includes all sea turtles except the leather-back sea turtle). They weigh around 300 pounds when fully grown and can be up to 7 feet long.
Courtesy photo by Brian Sherry / This loggerhead glides peacefully through the open waters.Their skin is brown to yellow in color while their shell is usually brownish red. There are no external differences in gender until the turtle becomes an adult. The most obvious difference being that adult males have thicker tails and shorter plastrons (chest plates) than the females have.
The loggerhead turtle is found in the Mediterranean Sea as well as in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans and spends its life in saltwater and estuarine habitats. The loggerhead reaches sexual maturity within 17–33 years and has a lifespan of 47–67 years.
Loggerhead sea turtles spend most of their life in the open ocean as well as in shallow coastal waters. They rarely come ashore, with the exception of the females' brief visits to construct nests and deposit eggs. The loggerhead sea turtle has a low reproductive rate; females lay an average of four egg clutches and then become quiescent, producing no eggs for two to three years.
.jpg)
Courtesy photo by Jeff Pippins in North Carolina / Loggerhead turtles are shown here off Cape Hatteras in a mating ritual.Hatchling loggerhead turtles live in floating mats of Sargassum algae. Juvenile loggerheads share the Sargassum habitat with a variety of other organisms.
The mats of Sargassum contain as many as 100 different species of animals that the juveniles feed on. Some of the prey, such as ants, flies, aphids, leafhoppers, and beetles are carried by the wind to these areas. Endemic prey of the Sargassum mats includes barnacles, small crab larvae, fish eggs, and hydrozoan colonies. Marine mammals and commercial fish such as tuna, dolphin fish, and amberjacks also inhabit the Sargassum mats.
Loggerhead turtles occupy waters with surface temperature ranging from 13.3–28 °C (56–82 °F) during non-nesting season. Temperatures from 27–28 °C (81–82 °F) are most suitable for nesting females.
Just say 'no' to Obama anti-gun proposals
I am presenting the following information because of the vast number of outdoors people it will affect. A White House senior adviser said that President Obama is "going to address gun control" soon. The Obama Administration hasn't revealed where or when this speech will happen, but It will most likely occur when we're least expecting it. It is of interest that Obama cut his new gun assault plans from his State of the Union address. I personally feel that is because he's saving his anti-gun agenda for a new speech. After the recent Tucson, Ariz., tragedy, liberals have issued a slew of anti-gun legislation.
David Plouffe, one of Obama’s advisers, communicated to NBC that Obama will be addressing the need for changes in gun laws in the wake of the Arizona massacre. Plouffe said, "It's a very important issue, and one I know there's going to be debate about on the Hill."
The liberals certainly aren't going to let this crisis go to waste. These liberal anti-second amendment bills have been made:
• Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) said he will be cosponsoring legislation that would ban the possession or sale of high-capacity magazines, and close the gun show loophole.
• Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) proposed a bill to set the maximum size of a gun's magazine to 10 rounds.
• Rep. Peter King (R-NY) said it should be illegal to carry a firearm within 1,000 feet of a high-ranking government official.
• Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) is pushing to get more intrusive background checks on gun purchasers and the denial of guns to people on the elusive terror watch list.
As you can easily see, liberals have a lot of anti-constitutional legislation cooking. Obama will likely use his upcoming speech to attack the right to keep and bear arms and attempt to garner support for progressive gun-ban voters.
Obama will continue to attack your second amendment rights between now and the 2012 election as a way to shore up support from his liberal anti-gun voter base. To stop Obama's anti-gun push, write to your congressmen.
We must stop Obama from abusing his power and snatching away our gun rights. If we don't act now, our rights will be gone forever. We need the help of patriots like you to ensure our right to bear arms and protect ourselves and our families is not destroyed. We cannot let Obama crush the second amendment. This is not a fight we can afford to lose.
Red tide update
No samples to detect the red tide organism have been collected so far this week on the east coast of Florida or in northwest Florida. In southwest Florida, Karenia brevis, the Florida red tide organism, was not detected in water samples collected this week alongshore of Manatee, Lee and Collier counties. Sampling will continue this week.
Fishing report
The recent colder weather has caused the temperatures of the air and water to remain in the upper 40s and low 50s. Northeast winds are adversely affected angling in the surf. On the piers, a lot of whiting were caught especially with the change in tides. Just before last week’s freeze, a lot of black drum and sheepshead were landed in the inlet. The best bait was blue crab. Most of the fish were between 20 and 30 inches in length. Redfish of the same size were also landed in the inlet. Bluefish were all over the inlet and its adjacent waters.
In the Halifax River, black drum and sheepshead were being caught especially near the bridges.
In the Tomoka Basin, schools of redfish were hitting small gold spoons and popping bugs. The cold killed a few snook, but not a major kill.
In the Mosquito and Indian River lagoons, the trout catch has been spectacular. Offshore boats that could make it out there reported catches of decent sized cobia. Boats going to bottom fish reported good catches of red grouper and gag grouper.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission advises anglers that regulations prohibit the recreational harvest of all shallow water groupers, gag, black, red, yellow fin, scamp, yellow mouth, rock hind, and red hind from Feb. 1 through March 31 in all Gulf of Mexico waters off Florida, except in all waters of Monroe County.
State Gulf waters are defined as from shore to 9 nautical miles out. Once beyond that limit, the water falls under Federal fishing regulations. Sport fishing specifically for gag grouper has been closed in federal waters beyond the 9-nautical-mile limit since Jan. 1. The federal closure will be in effect for six months.
Capt. Budd's PostScript
It has been written ”Unless you have a ritual for getting your tackle box ready, no one will regard you as a serious fisherman."
So whether you charter, ride a head boat, run your own vessel, stay in the river , surf fish, fish from shore or a bridge, there are fish to be caught. Fishing is not a matter of life or death, it is so much more important than that.
Tight lines, Capt. Budd