Sea Turtle Necropsies down at WHOI
Hayley Pollard collecting data. This past Saturday, January 12 th, marked the first day of sea turtle necropsies that will be conducted throughout the spring down at the Necropsy Facility that is part of the Marine Mammal Center, WHOI. The carcasses that were examine had been collected from Cape Cod beaches this fall and early winter. During each necropsy, a variety of research activities is conducted in order to learn more about the cold-stunned sea turtles that had become trapped inside Cape Cod Bay this fall but were not able to navigate their way out. Volunteers from many different government and non-government organizations in New England helped to gather data, tissue samples and other information on the 3 species of endangered sea turtles that were examined. The 3 species included the Atlantic Kemp's ridley sea turtle, the green turtle and the loggerhead sea turtle. Each spring, this work is lead by Bob Prescott, Director of Mass Audubon at Wellfleet Bay, in coll