Sea Turtle Necropsies at Bridgewater State University

An amazing time at Bridgewater State University as students were able to examine and necropsy four cold-stunned sea turtles that had washed up this past winter on Cape Cod beaches.

Students who had attended NECWA's sea turtle necropsies down at WHOI were now leading them at BSU. And what a fabulous job they did. Scientists and teachers in the making!

Kicking off this event was Dawilmer Castilo who is studying sea turtles this semester. Dawilmer provided a PPT presentation on sea turtle biology, evolution, and ecology with special emphasis on cold-stunned individuals.

Then students split up and watched BSU team leaders in action. Students were able to observe necropsies on 2 Kemp's ridley sea turtles, one green sea turtle and one loggerhead sea turtle.

Students from BSU's Chordate class were invited to attend as were all interested Biology students at BSU. What an incredible experience and opportunity for these students!

A big thank you to BSU students Dawilmer, Collin, Christine, Rebecca, Carly and Sherel for leading one of 4 necropsies during this event. Also thanks to NECWA support team including Tiffany, Leah and Kyra.

Also a big thank you to Bob Prescott and his staff at Mass Audubon at Wellfleet Bay, for allowing Krill to take the sea turtles off-site for these examinations.

More Sea Turtle Necropsies

September 25, 2014  Sea Turtle Necropsies continue

Our second Saturday of necropsies was another success. We were able to examine quite a few sea turtles as we worked together as a team. Volunteers and staff from NECWA and Mass Audubon worked together to examine close to 30 carcasses. Information from these events may help us better understand sea turtles in our New England waters.