The Riverhead Foundation is a marine conservation organization that performs necropsies on sea turtles and marine mammals to further their understanding of threats to these species and educate the public. The document describes the objectives and findings of an internship where the author observed necropsies on 36 sea turtles and recorded data on cause of death and biological characteristics. Major threats identified were boat strikes and plastic ingestion. The necropsy data collected will help the Foundation in their conservation efforts of at-risk sea turtle species in the New York area.

1. The Riverhead Foundation: Using
necropsies to further awareness of
marine conservation issues
Thomas Pratt

2. ● Mission: “to preserve and protect
our marine environment through
rescue and rehabilitation, research
and education.”
● New York State’s only marine
mammal and sea turtle rescue and
research program.
● Works with cetaceans (whales,
dolphins, porpoises), pinnipeds
(seals) and sea turtles.

3. Objectives
My objectives in this internship with the Riverhead Foundation were to:
1) Observe direct impacts on sea turtles and know how to prevent it.
2) Observe sex ratios, cause of death, and human impact through necropsies.
3) Gain more insight and knowledge about sea turtle anatomy.

4. Sea turtles
7 species:
1. Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas)
2. Loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta)
3. Leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys
coriacea)
4. Olive ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys
olivacea)
5. Kemp’s ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys
kempii)
6. Flatback sea turtle (Natador depressus)
7. Hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys
imbracata)

5. Sea turtles
7 species:
1. Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas)
2. Loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta)
3. Leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys
coriacea)
4. Olive ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys
olivacea)
5. Kemp’s ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys
kempii)
6. Flatback sea turtle (Natador depressus)
7. Hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys
imbracata)

6. Sea turtle diet
● jellyfish/salps
● Seagrasses and algae
● crustaceans
● molluscs
● gastropods
● sponges

7. Sea turtle habitats
● pelagic sargassum
● coral reefs
● mangroves
● seagrass beds

8. When are they found in our area?
● Leatherback sea turtles are found in
New York waters all year round; other
species are mostly found during the
warmer months in the summer for
foraging.
● Kemp’s ridley sea turtles are found
cold-stunned during the winter from
October to March.
(Wallace et al. 2013)

9. Threats to sea turtles
Human impacts on marine
ecosystems have threatened many
species that are vulnerable to
extinction (Davenport 1997, Halpern
et al. 2008, Janzen 1994).
● bycatch
● fisheries (longlines, gillnets, boat
strikes)
● marine pollution and debris
● habitat degradation
● global climate change
wwf.panda.org

10. Importance of NGOs
NGOs help address conservation issues
such as fisheries management, scientific
modeling, human impacts, and scientific
information and education.
Examples: Greenpeace, Ocean
Conservancy, the Marine Conservation
Society, and the Worldwide Fund for
Nature.
(Groom et al. 2006, Sutherland et al. 2004)

11. Method of a necropsy
(Wyneken and Witherington 2001)

12. Findings
Species
Boat/prop
strike
Nematodes/GI tract
inflammation
Broken
bones/missing
appendages Hemorrhages
No
significant
findings Plastic
Dermochelys coriacea 1 0 1 1 1 1
Caretta caretta 3 0 1 0 3 0
Chelonia mydas 0 2 0 1 4 0
Lepidochelys kempii 1 2 0 0 17 0

15. Boat/propeller strike

16. Species Male Female Unknown Total number
Dermochelys coriacea 2 1 0 3
Caretta caretta 1 4 1 6
Chelonia mydas 1 6 0 7
Lepidochelys kempii 4 16 0 20

18. There were 55.6% kemps
ridley sea turtles identified
represented in the yellow (20),
19.4% green sea turtles
represented in the green (7),
16.7% loggerhead sea turtles
represented in red (6), and 8.3%
leatherback sea turtles
represented in blue (3).
Figure 3- Percentage of species

19. http://www.riverheadfoundation.org/pubfiles/annualreports/2013Report.pdf

20. http://www.riverheadfoundation.org/pubfiles/annualreports/2013Report.pdf

21. Implementations
Endangered Species Act (ESA): 6 populations of sea turtles are threatened; 10 endangered.
All listed under CITES appendix I
In the NYS area:
Loggerhead- threatened
Leatherback- endangered
Green- endangered
Kemp’s ridley- endangered

22. What can be done?
● TEDs: Turtle Excluder Devices
● Circle hooks
● Reduce beach lighting
● Reduce environmental contamination
www.nmfs.noaa.gov

23. Current sea turtle research
1. Bycatch identification and management
2. Sea turtle diet/GI tract analysis
3. Nesting habitat
4. Marine pollution and debris
www.nmfs.noaa.gov

24. References
Davenport, J. (1997). Temperature and the life-history strategies of sea turtles. Journal of thermal biology, 22(6),
pp. 479-488.
Groom, M. J., Meffe, G. K., & Carroll, C. R. (2006). Principles of conservation biology (pp. 174-251). Sunderland:
Sinauer Associates.
Halpern, B. S., Walbridge, S., Selkoe, K. A., Kappel, C. V., Micheli, F., D'Agrosa, C., ... & Watson, R. (2008). A
global map of human impact on marine ecosystems. Science, 319(5865), pp. 948-952.
Janzen, F. J. (1994). Climate change and temperature-dependent sex determination in reptiles. Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences,91(16), pp. 7487-7490.
Lewison, R. L., Freeman, S. A., & Crowder, L. B. (2004). Quantifying the effects of fisheries on threatened species:
the impact of pelagic longlines on loggerhead and leatherback sea turtles. Ecology letters, 7(3), pp. 221-231.

25. References
DiGiovanni Jr., R., Durham, K., DePerte, A., Ferina, D. The Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and
Preservation Annual Report. (2013). Web. 21 August 2014. <http://www.riverheadfoundation.
org/pubfiles/annualreports/2013Report.pdf>
Sutherland, W. J., Pullin, A. S., Dolman, P. M., & Knight, T. M. (2004). The need for evidence-based
conservation. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 19(6), pp. 305-308.
Wallace, B.P., Tiwari, M. & Girondot, M. 2013. Dermochelys coriacea. The IUCN Red List of Threatened
Species. Version 2014.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 06 August 2014.
Wolke, R. E., & George, A. (1981). Sea turtle necropsy manual. US Department of Commerce, National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, Southeast Fisheries Center,
Panama City Laboratory, pp 1-20.
Wyneken, J., & Witherington, D. (2001). The anatomy of sea turtles (p. 172). Southeast Fisheries Science
Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, US Department
of Commerce. pp. 1-52.

26. Any questions?