Killers of Loggerhead Sea Turtles

One of the most influential experiences of my life, and the one which solidified my passion to study biology, occurred in Costa Rica in the summer of 2007. I volunteered for a sea turtle rescue program on the Atlantic side of the country, where a group of cohorts and myself actively searched at nights with headlamps wrapped in red cellophane for sea turtles laying clutches of eggs on the beach. No we were not poachers of these beautiful creatures, collecting their eggs for profit, or benefiting in any materialistic way from the truly unbelievable cross ocean journey these marine reptiles had just accomplished. In fact we were collecting their eggs to move to a hatchery further up the beach, where they would be safe from the washing waves. Deforestation inland of these areas has caused large logs to wash up on the beach, confusing turtles to believe that they are nesting at the high tide line, where their eggs will be safe when really they are tens of meters shy of this safe zone.

 I can vividly remember the first turtle we saw, laboriously digging a deep cavern to lay her eggs after a transoceanic journey of thousands of miles. I could hear the exhaustion in her deep raspy breathes as she plowed the wet sand with what seemed to be completely inept fins. She was so concentrated that she had no idea she was surrounded by amazed high schools mouths agape. As soon as she started to lay I was given the signal for egg collection, and I stuck my bare hands under posterior end. Suddenly I began to catch cups of turtle fluid along with several soft leathery eggs, very similar in size and shape to the dented and deflated ping pong balls any college student is well versed at fixing with a lighter. This moment was an epiphany for me, as I instantaneously understood biological conservation efforts and the serene esthetic beauty of nature. I decided that anyone or anything which harmed or took advantage of these sea turtles and their efforts to reproduce are pure evil. Enter Balaenophilus manatorum (Ortiz et al. 1992) and members of the family Spirorchiidae.

The animal I saw that fateful night in central America was the giant Loggerhead sea turtle Caretta caretta , an animal which can grow to be several hundred pounds. This wonderful animal is endangered because of human and parasitic behaviors coupled with their low reproduction rate and relatively long time needed to reach sexual maturity (20 years) (NOAA). B. manatorum is an ectoparasite which usually attaches to the eyes or flippers of a sea turtle. This behavior in itself can be detrimental to the turtle, if  vision become obscured or damaged due to these organisms, it can result in death. More dangerous and detrimental to sea turtles however are organisms of the family Spirorchiidae. These parasites are member of the class Trematoda and subclass Digenea. These organisms are parasitic flatworms, also known as flukes, which affect all types of vertebrates, and cause many negative consequences in the hosts organisms. (Goodchild and Martin (1969). Usually turtles like the loggerhead pick up these parasites from eating infected mollusks, common hosts for many trematodes in the first part of their life cycle. Most trematodes then have a complex life cycle often using many life stages and hosts. When these parasites gets to the turtle, the infection can affect every system and organ or the body. Pathological effects include but are not limited: to lesions and hemorraging of the heart, aneurysms, infection of the nerves and brain, and skin tumors. (Santoro et al. 2007).

Studying this group of parasites can help save sea turtles and many other vertabrates commonly affected (including humans). Study and research of the genetic differences of this group can give us a unique look at where migrating animals have been in the world oceans, and how recently. On that same note further study may help us understand the effects of global warming on migration patterns of certain affected marine vertebrates. Most importantly however, hopefully it can help us formulate a plan to rid the world of these satanic and heartless parasites, which prey on defenseless cute turtles.

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/turtles/loggerhead.htm

Eduardo Suarez-Morales, Benjamin Morales-Vela, Janneth Padilla-Saldivar, Marcelo Silva-Briano. (2010) The copepod Balaenophilus manatorum (Ortiz, Lalana and Torres, 1992) (Harpacticoida), an epibiont of the Caribbean manatee. Journal of Natural History. 44:13, 847-859.

Goodchild C. G. and Martin V. L. (1969). Speciation in Spirorchis (Trematoda: Spirorchiidae) Infecting the Painted Turtle, Chrysemys picta. The Journal of Parasitology.55(6), 1169-1173.

Santoro, M. M., Morales, J. A., & Rodríguez-Ortíz, B. B. (2007). Spirochiidiosis (Digenea: Spirorchiidae) and lesions associated with parasites in Caribbean green turtles (Chelonia mydas). Veterinary Record: Journal Of The British Veterinary Association, 161(14), 482-486.