The History of the Peconic Bay Sea Turtle Project

Information gathering on sea turtle health in the Peconic Bay began nearly 15 years ago when Dr. Steve Morreale, a senior research associate at Cornell University, conducted a mark-recapture study of sea turtles in this area with the cooperation of local fishermen.

The current study, initiated in 2002 in partnership with Dr. Morreale, uses similar methodology to compare the results and analyze for changes in health, relative abundance, species composition and seasonal distribution occurring over time. Many of the pound nets involved in the first study are part of the current health assessment efforts.

In 2002 and 2003, Wildlife Trust sponsored veterinary interns based at the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation, to assist with health assessments and sample collection, and to analyze and catalogue blood morphology and biochemistry values for comparison to past and future samples. Both of the veterinary interns, Drs. Katie McGonigle and Michele Sims, were graduates of Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, a member of the Consortium for Conservation Medicine (CCM), based at Wildlife Trust.

In addition to working on the sea turtle health assessments, the interns provided veterinary care as part of the sea turtle and marine mammal stranding programs conducted by the Riverhead Foundation.