Author: Sam Trail
Date: December 15, 2022
Earlier this month, FAU Marine Lab researchers and our director attended the Florida Keys Sea Turtle Workshop in Marathon, FL. This workshop is an opportunity for researchers and veterinary staff in and around Florida to gather and share ideas regarding sea turtle veterinary care, rehabilitation, and husbandry. Specific presentations covered a variety of topics from the barnacles that live on the shells of turtles to the perils of sea turtle boat collisions.
FAU visiting researcher, Dr. Samantha Kuschke, (a veterinarian and Ph.D. candidate from the University of Tennessee) gave a talk entitled “Serum Protein Electrophoresis in Leatherback Sea Turtle Hatchling” about her novel research showing differences in blood test values (packed cell volume known as PCV and total protein) of hatchlings that incubated in warmer versus cooler nests.
FAU Marine Lab coordinator, Emily Turla attended and participated in the necropsy workshop adding to the skills she can draw upon for her research.
FAU Marine Lab director, Dr. Jeanette Wyneken, presented a workshop on the structures and functions of the liver, which had over 80 attendees! The liver is essential to so many functions from forming bile and assisting digestion to breaking down damaged and old red blood cells, to making essential blood clotting factor components, and driving the mobilization of fat for reproduction. Fun fact: The liver is the largest visceral organ in the body of a sea turtle.
