Pacific leatherback sea turtle
Comparative Health Assessment of Western Pacific Leatherback Turtles (Dermochelys Coriacea) Foraging Off the Coast of California, 2005-2007
Are we studying the right turtles?
We all want healthy populations of marine wildlife, but what is healthy and how do you measure that?
Science is critical. In a recently published paper, SeaDoc Executive Director Kirsten Gilardi and co-authors showed significant difference in blood values for wild foraging leatherback turtles than for nesting turtles.
Nesting females are easier to test than wild swimming leatherbacks (this is the largest of the sea turtle species - think about the size of a volkswagon bug), but doing what is easiest is not always right.
Pacific leatherbacks inhabit both tropical and temperate oceans and undergo the longest migrations of any sea turtle species - crossing ocean basins. They also are critically endangered.
Good science is helping us evaluate their health and hopefully recover the species.
See the complete citation.
