The first crop of 2015 juvenile tarpon has now reached South Carolina shores! These little guys started showing up in tidal marsh pools near Georgetown during sampling sessions by collaborators at University of South Carolina, which indicates that juvenile and larval tarpon are recruiting in mid-summer in this area. But what does that mean as they get bigger and temperatures start dropping?
This summer BTT will begin a year-long project to determine overwintering capability and temperature tolerances of juvenile tarpon at the Tom Yawkey Wildlife Center and USC’s Baruch Marine Field Laboratory. BTT will fund a Field Technician stationed at the Lab to lead the project, which includes tagging and tracking tarpon in the field as well as laboratory experiments. Our main goal is to determine if juvenile tarpon can survive the South Carolina winter and whether habitat management improves survival.
So, how can you help BTT’s juvenile tarpon research efforts? First, you can help us gather genetic samples by requesting a tarpon genetic sampling kit or you can make a donation the BTT’s Juvenile Tarpon Habitat Initiative.
