Red at 40 feet

[justleesa]

Well he wasnt't there yesterday....so I don't know. The guy from the muesum couldn't help me but he set me up with some people that could. They are now looking into it.

Keep you posted.


Hope you get in the water Yoda!

 

[SeaYoda]

... Hope you get in the water Yoda!

The sun is shining and the camera is packed - I'm outta here!!!!

 

[justleesa]

Have fun!
Looking like I couldn't sleep well (been up since 12.....) so it's out of the water I stay today... (

 

[Aggie Diver]

Lisa, where is that at?

It looks like a site I did last year, shallower dive after doing the Sea Tiger (name escapes me).

 

[archman]

Thanks for the link to this thread Scott. This is neato. I know a fair amount about tropical macroalgae, and have rehabilitated sea turtles, including this species.

I also just reviewed a graph of light attenuation for oceanic waters. Red light in the 600 nanometer range penetrates a bit better than the 625nm, but at around 10-15 meters only about 10% remains. I guess that means it gets harder to see, or something. I'd say 50 feet in even the optically purest water is really pushing it.

I know about Hypnea. To get a plume of dissolved accessory pigments that dense, Mr. Green Turtle there would have to have an ABSURD amount of the stuff breaking down in his gut, and be uh... belching. I've never heard of any observations of Chelonia leaking pigments out of their mouth, however. That's really on the crazy fringe of field science. We'd really have to see its poo.

The colors in the water look exactly like blood... turtle blood. I've seen plenty of it. If the animal is bleeding from the mouth or throat, it could stem from a variety of causes. Hooks and other manmade junk are a possibility, but so are natural sources such as urchin spines. It could even be a tumor.

Turtles don't really give a rat for pain, like most other reptiles. I've injected tags deep into them and they didn't even flinch. So if this particular animal has a wound, its perfectly natural for it to sit there calmly. However, if its BLOOD in the water, and its PERSISTENT, where are all the dang sharks?

If the museum folks don't know any sea turtle people, I can refer them to a couple I know. Very nearly took that career path myself.

 

[justleesa]

The dive site is called "Turtle canyons"...and the museum guy sent me to the turtle specialists.

http://www.susanscott.net/OceanWatch2004/jun11-04.html

www.turtles.org/nmfs/oahu.htm
www.turtles.org

So I got in touch with them, they looked at the pics and say they have seen something simular and also support the algae theory. But also say if I see him again and he's still "inking" to let them know. Roger was there again today and no turtle.

 

[archman]

So I got in touch with them, they looked at the pics and say they have seen something simular and also support the algae theory. But also say if I see him again and he's still "inking" to let them know.

If you get a hold of them again, could you ask how many turtles they have seen displaying this behaviour, what makes them so sure its fermenting algae doing it, and what the side-effects (if any) from eating so much of this taxon are for the turtle?

This is pretty dang weird stuff. Ten years ago I would have been laughed out of NMFS if I told them a story like this.

 

[Aggie Diver]

Arch, thanks for joining the thread. Hey I will get the Aquarina pics posted in the next day or two, had to track down some web space.

 

[justleesa]

This is the responce I received from the turtle people

Sorry for the delay. We've seen this "behavior" quite often in turtles on shore, as they are kind of regurgitating while they rest, and the liquid is colored red. And there are a few instances captured on film where this was seen underwater. However, we are only basing what we think this is from your photos, and the only way to confirm this would be to have the turtle in hand. As you know, this would be difficult, and probably all the stress it would cause the turtle wouldn't be justified. Often, if a turtle is sick or severely injured, it will come ashore and this is the best time to bring them in for evaluation.
As for the side effects for eating so much red algae, there are none directly- algae is the main food source for turtles in Hawaii. Research is underway to determine if toxins or dinoflagellates in or on certain types of algae can be harmful, but nothing is proven beyond a doubt yet.
Hope that helps.

 

[archman]

Thanks justleesa!

Dang... sounds like they know less about Chelonia's dietary preferences than I do. That or they dumbed down the response quite a bit. I was hoping for much more detail. Green's prefer er... green algae over other types, especially Ulva. Hypnea is a red algae, and far more difficult to break down. But Chelonia in northwest Hawaii is known to also eat Spyridia (red) and Turbinaria (brown), and both of those genera are even tougher nuts than Hypnea to digest.

And no comments on stomach analysis, dang again! Their response reads like they're as much in the dark as we are! This is exactly the sort of project I'd be ITCHING to tackle... recruiting field volunteers would certainly not be a problem.

"Hey Billy, hold that turtle down! Sally, get some of that vomit in the sample container! George, stop mooning the camera!"

Oh well.