After graduating from Florida International University in 1982, I went to work with my professor, George Dalrymple at Everglades National Park’s Shark Valley. The project consisted of counting, capturing, processing and releasing alligators. It was a basic capture/recapture study and after eight years, over 1500 animals were processed. In fact, there are biologists reengaging an alligator monitoring program in the area and are recapturing some of the original animals.
In 1989, came an opportunity to work with American crocodiles at FP&L’s Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant in Florida City, FL. I joined a contractor for FP&L on a part time basis and remained until 2008, with FP&L hiring me in 2005. There existed a procedures manual which was edited and rewritten several times in order to work together with the maintenance personnel and design the cooling canal system to match the natural history of the crocodiles.
During the early years of the study, there were 3-5 crocodiles nesting on site annually. Twenty-eight successful nests hatched in 2008, and 520 hatchlings were captured, marked, micro-chipped and released. Through the years the crocodile team at Turkey Point has discovered more than 350 nests. Over 4,500 hatchling crocodiles were and captured, marked, measured, marked, micro-chipped and released.
On April 17, 2007, American crocodiles were down listed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service from “Endangered” to “Threatened” status.
While working with the crocodiles at Turkey Point, we were visited by many newspaper reporters, network news producers, magazine writer/photographers and major network producers including but not limited to, National Geographic, Animal Planet, Discovery Channel, History Channel and thr Travel Channel. Dozens of stories from the aforementioned media outlets tell the story of American crocodile conservation at Turkey Point. Wildlife conservation and industry can co-exist.
