Using seaweeds to optimize marine turtle diets

Abstract

Sea turtles are currently threatened at all stages of life. For this reason, conservation (Head Starting), recovery and research projects were carried out, where the turtles will be kept for long periods of time. The aim is to improve the feeding protocols, since there is a great lack of knowledge about the feeding of sea turtles, in order to improve their well-being during their stay in controlled conditions. Today, aquaculture has made it easier for us to reproduce fish, molluscs and algae in fresh or salt water. It is probably the fastest growing food production sector. The aim of this work is to create a new diet for the loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) composed entirely of marine elements. For this reason, we want to optimize a sea turtle feed developed by Choromansky for the Virginia Aquarium (USA) and adapted by the Oceanografic of Valencia, replacing the terrestrial vegetable components with the marine ones. In our study we use two species of macroalgae (Ulva Rígida, Hydropuntia Cornea) which are produced in intensive farming systems on land, providing great benefits and ease of growth in these systems. The purpose of the study is to obtain the appropriate texture and stability of this feed.