Biochemical Parameter Analysis of Rescued Olive Ridley Sea Turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea)

Abstract

Background: The olive ridley sea turtle also known as the Pacific ridley sea turtle is a medium-sized species of turtle found in warm and tropical waters, primarily in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Sea Turtles are an integral part of coastal and marine ecosystems, they have also been fundamental to the culture of coastal societies for millennia. But human activities over the past 200 years have massively tipped the scales against the survival of these ancient mariners, despite its conservation status the olive ridley are considered vulnerable. The aim of the study was to collect biochemical data on olive ridley sea turtles while drawing comparisons with previous published data on sea turtles. Methods: This research work was carried out in rescued Olive Ridley Sea Turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) which were stranded or rescued during various periods of breeding season from September, 2017 to April, 2018 by Trust for Environmental and Education (TREE) foundation, Vettuvankeni, Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The Clinical samples were collected from 7 sea turtles in rescue centers and examined for biochemical parameters analysis. The biochemical parameters measured were Glucose, cholesterol, Total protein, albumin and globulin, Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN), Creatinine, Alanine Aminotransferase (ALT), Calcium and Phosphorus. The statistical analyses of data were carried out by using student’s t-test. Result: The results of this study were more or less unfailing with previous studies but variations with other studies may result from values depends upon the geospatial distribution such as species, age, sex, season, sample site, nutrition and management condition. The data in this research was more specific to olive ridley sea turtles, indicating need to standardize reference values because of little know data on these turtle species, which are intended for health evaluation for free-ranging and captive/rescued sea turtles.

Overview of oil spills worldwide and impacts on marine megafauna

“…Further study on turtles under rehabilitation after rescue during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, revealed (1) (80 turtles) and by Days 21 to 30 (the remaining 10 turtles), and glucose concentrations stabilized within 5 days after admission in rehabilitation [41]. One oiled olive Ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) found during the largest oil spill recorded in Brazil in 2019 was kept under rehabilitation, and the first laboratory analysis revealed (1) little higher hemoglobin value (102 g/L) and higher mean corpuscular volume (945 fL) than reference values (73.7-97.6 g/L and 255.5-341.5 fL, respectively; [87], and (2) lower lymphocytes and thrombocytes count (770 and 3,500 cells/µL, respectively) in contrast to reference counts (920-2,540 and 6,750-19,750, respectively; [88]; after 7 days of treatment a second blood count showed these parameters in normal range [45].…”

Lethal Lesions Caused by Propeller Cuts on the Endangered Green Turtle Chelonia mydas on Liuchiu Island, Taiwan

“…Green turtles (C. mydas) (Ong et al, 2019) are widely distributed in tropical and subtropical water. The C. mydas has been listed as globally endangered (International Union for Conservation of Nature IUCN 2016) and face many anthropogenic threats such as marine pollution, being caught in fishing nets, poaching and injuries from boat propellers (Shigenaka 2010;Work et al, 2015;Phu and Palaniappan, 2019;Ramakrishnan et al, 2022). Boat strike has been identified as the most common causes of sea turtle mortality in several sea turtle habitats worldwide (Denkinger et al, 2013).…”