Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM)

Facility and animal acquisition :

The study was carried out at the rehabilitation center “Arca del mar” located and managed by the Oceanogràfic, in Valencia, Spain. The facility has a permit from the Spanish government to hold and rehabilitate bycaught sea turtles from local fishermen. All turtles were obtained from fishermen off the Valencian coast of Spain and brought to the facility. 

Turtles that were brought to Arca del Mar from February until November 2016 underwent spirometry testing following veterinary examination. A total of 25 individual loggerhead turtles (Carretta carretta) were used in this study including previous work using the same methods. The mean body mass was 12.2 ± 9.0 with a range from 1.0 to 38.5 kg. 

Methods :

The spirometry measures respiratory flow, tidal volume, breathing frequency as well as breath duration and was performed both on land and in water (day 1). Next, turtles that had observable GE underwent recompression therapy while animals without GE (healthy individuals) were placed in the water filled holding tank.
All turtles underwent a second spirometry on day 2; the measurement on animals with GE were performed directly following the veterinary examination after the chamber treatment, while the measurements for animals without GE were done approximately at the same time of day. Next, turtles participated in weekly spirometries both inside the water tank at Arca del Mar and also outside with the turtle laying on land.