Cause of death for young sea turtles investigated

What caused the death of 11 young sea turtles on the NSW North Coast?

That was the aim of a recent investigation by NSW National Parks and Wildlife Services Marine Wildlife Team (MWT) members at the Australian Seabird and Turtle Rescue (ASTR) headquarters in Ballina.

NPWS Team Leader Marine Wildlife Team and experienced marine animal veterinarian Dr Duane March and Australian Seabird and Turtle Rescue Assistant General Manager Amanda Philp led the investigation after the turtles were found sick and stranded on nearby beaches.

ASTR Assistant General Manager Amanda Philp said it was important to find out the reasons behind marine animal strandings and subsequent deaths.

“Whilst, sadly, these animals did not make a recovery, the answers we get from these investigations may help us protect more turtles in the future,” said Ms Philp.

“The main finding was a high level of infection with a blood parasite, that causes inflammation and damage to a range of tissues, including the intestines, compromising the animal’s ability to digest food,” she said.

NPWS Team Leader Marine Wildlife Team, Dr Duane March said the investigation did not stop there.

“In addition to performing the post mortems on these animals, we have collected a range of samples that will be analysed as part of a wider project with a number of universities. We are looking at what contaminants are present in these animals, and what the health impacts might be. These kinds of partnerships we have with wildlife rescue organisations provide a huge amount of scientific data," Mr March said.

“Understanding what is impacting our sea turtles can help us implement management actions to protect them into the future,” he said.

Ms Philp also sees the value in partnering with government agencies and universities.

“It is great to know that researchers will be able to use also use these samples to not only look into what causes these animals to become sick, but also to assess the condition of the deceased turtle's habitat by analysing the quality of their diet and general health,” said Ms Philp.

The turtle post mortems were conducted by NPWS in partnership with Australian Seabird Turtle Rescue and funded via the NSW Marine Estate Management Strategy (MEMS).

Find out more about the MEMS threatened species monitoring project here.