Sea turtle corpse research offers glimpses into their lives
Every week, Erin Seney picks through the stomach contents of dead turtles.
It’s tedious, smelly work for this assistant research scientist at the department of biology. Each element of the stomach sample must be carefully separated and logged. Using tweezers and a magnifying glass, she creates little piles of claws, shells and other materials that provide a glimpse into each sea turtle’s life — and death.
“Sea turtles are all protected species, and our interest is to better understand their biology so we can better conserve and manage them,” Seney said. “To me, understanding what an animal eats is fundamental to understanding everything about its life and its environment.”
Florida is one of the nation’s premier sea turtle research hubs. Twice a year, Seney takes a trip to the Marine Mammal Pathology Laboratory in St. Petersburg to acquire new samples gathered by state-sponsored stranding coordinators from across the east coast. The stranding coordinators gather dead sea turtles — mainly from beaches — and deliver them to sites like the lab, where they are frozen and preserved until they can be necropsied by veterinary specialists, who determine their cause of death.
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Turtle News From Around the World
Conservation
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Crime & Punishment
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Health & Medical
USA:- Rescued sea turtles released back into the ocean at Marineland
Miscellany
UK:- ‘I need your weeds’ pleads Clifton woman with hungry tortoise to feed
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Photo from Bernard Wulchusky.
