Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and its partners working to solve mystery of shell disease in western pond turtles
For years, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and its partners have been reintroducing young western pond turtles into the wild. On Tuesday morning, experts collected adult turtles suffering from shell disease — a mysterious, difficult-to-cure and sometimes fatal disorder.
Experts are in the midst of a three-year effort to learn the cause of the disease and how to prevent it by collecting, treating, and studying the affected turtles and the water they live in.
The program is focused on getting answers to open questions. Is it contagious? Is it hereditary? Does it affect reproduction? Is it curable?
Turtle News From Around the World
Conservation
USA: nonprofit New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance (NECWA), MA beginning to study, track local diamonback terrapins (Malaclemmys terrapin), info on how to help
Australia: Bibra Lake in Cockburn sees high mortality rates for snake-necked turtle (Chelodina longicollis) ahead of nesting season, rates deemed unsustainable
USA: Eglin Air Force Base, FL sees first nestings of both Kemp’s ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys kempii) and leatherback sea turtles (Dermochelys coriacea)
USA: Georgia coast sees new record in loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) nests, nesting still continuing (AUDIO)
Malaysia: Terengganu Fisheries Department proposes purchasing leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) eggs from Papua New Guinea and Indonesia in hopes of increasing their nesting numbers
USA: Amos Rehabilitation Keep (ARK) in TX busy rescuing, rehabbing sea turtles, how to help (VIDEO)
Ecology
USA: Massachusetts Audubon Society’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary urges boat users to look out for sea turtles, info on how to report injured or entrapped sea turtles in MA
India: meet Pugalarasan TA, the man who has helped save stranded and injured turtles for 17 years
Education
Labroots.com: learn more about the turtle shell, how turtles can breathe through their butts, and how turtles can survive without oxygen (VIDEO)
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Photo from Zach Wilkinson/The Columbian.
