Red at 40 feet

[justleesa]

We came across this turtle today and noticed some red stuff coming out if his mouth. Now, as said, we were at 40 feet - yet you could clearly identify the color was red. Anybody got an idea what it could have been?

Image by justleesa (Copyright) posted at ScubaGallery

Image by justleesa (Copyright) posted at ScubaGallery

 

[Kim]

Blood possibly? Either his, or something he was eating?

 

[justleesa]

hard to say....but why was it red? as 40' I shouldn't see red, should I?

 

[Kim]

No, I suppose you shouldn't really see it, unless you were carrying a light? A quick Google search also told me that fluorescent colors are different i.e. fluorescent red is still visible at 100ft. What could make it fluorescent, I have no idea. I do suspect it's something that it ate one way or another though.

 

[justleesa]

nope, no light - ....thanks for the search kim....interesting fact!

 

[Kim]

I found the stuff about neon/fluorescent here:
http://www.deep-six.com/page77.htm

 

[ScubaTexan]

Would the strobe light make it red?

 

[Dee]

This is way out there but following the neon/fluorescent idea, could he have bitten into a cylume stick?

Other than that I have no idea!

 

[Gilligan]

We came across this turtle today and noticed some red stuff comding out if his mouth. Now, as said, we were at 40 feet - yet you could clearly identify the color was red. Anybody got an idea what it could have been?

Lisa are those non strobe photos that you adjusted in Photoshop?
If so there is a reddish hair like algae that grows on the bottom at certaim times of the year and the turtles eat algae.

 

[diversteve]

We came across this turtle today and noticed some red stuff comding out if his mouth. Now, as said, we were at 40 feet - yet you could clearly identify the color was red. Anybody got an idea what it could have been?

It sure looks like Red Algae to me. This info is from:

http://www.werc.usgs.gov/hq/invasive/seaturtle.html

Impact of exotic invasive plants on selected reptiles -- green sea turtle:

Interestingly, some exotic pest plants may have benefitted turtles. The green sea turtle is an herbivorous species that is endangered world-wide. The red algae species Hypnea musciformis was introduced into the Hawaiian Islands in 1974 from its native Florida. Since its introduction it has spread rapidly invading niches occupied by native species of Hypnea. Although the exotic algae is capable of inhibiting the growth of native species, some believe that the total productivity of certain Hawaiian reefs has increased due to the addition of H. musciformis. Green sea turtles utilize the exotic algae which sometimes represents 99-100 percent of the seaweed mass found in their stomachs (Russell and Balazs, 1994).