LAB NEWS
The latest updates from the Page Lab.
PhD candidate and lab member Derek Aoki recently presented his research on inter- and post-nesting movement patterns of leatherback sea turtles tagged in Florida, USA and Costa Rica at the 42nd International Sea Turtle Symposium in Pattaya, Thailand! Derek also presented a poster on the benefits of using acoustic tagging of nesting leatherback turtles! Derek did a fantastic job representing the lab and building connections!
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Dr. Ashley Morgan, a recent graduate of the Page lab, published her thesis on the hematological changes in Florida Pompano! Check out the full publication here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jfb.15645
The lab also published a paper on metals accumulation in odontocetes stranded in Florida and Georgia. This project was a collaboration with the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Foundation, Hubbs Sea World Research Institute, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources! Check out the full publication here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e25552 |
Dr. Annie Page recently visited collaborators from the St. Nicholas University School of Veterinary Medicine on the beautiful Caribbean island of Dominica! This collaboration project focuses on evaluating the gut microbiome in resident sperm whales. This is an incredible opportunity to observe healthy whales up close in their natural habitat. With this information we hope to learn more about them in an effort to understand how we can best protect them. Sperm whales do visit Florida's waters, infrequently stranding along Florida's coasts, giving us an opportunity to compare microbiomes of healthy, free-ranging whales versus sick, stranded whales.
Photo Credits: Samantha Mostafa, Martha DeForest, Mila DeForest Disclaimer: All photos and videos collected by authorized personnel under federal permit |
The lab had an excellent experience at the 2023 IAAM – International Association of Aquatic Animal Medicine conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. Along with presenting our research poster on " A Case Study of an Adult Female Risso's Dolphin with a Rhabdomyoma", we had an opportunity to reconnect with many old friends and and forge new ones! Along with the conference, we had lots of fun experiencing beautiful Salt Lake City, including the Great Salt Lake, which provides up to 45% of the world's brine shrimp, a major food resource for aquaria and aquaculture operations!
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Check out this article by FAU highlighting Derek's work and the full publication here!
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Congratulations to laboratory alumnus Catherine Lo on her new position as a Research Assistant with the SeaDoc Society! Way to go Cat, we are proud of you!
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Dr. Annie recently gave a presentation for the Florida Oceanographic Society's Coastal Lecture Series. Check it out!
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LISTEN HERE to hear Dr. Annie discuss her work on fibropapillomatosis with Michelle Greenfield on the Aquadocs Podcast!
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Elina Rantonen, our visiting veterinary student from the University of Helsinki, has written a great blog about her experiences in the HBOI Marine Wildlife Veterinary Medicine & Research Program! Check it out HERE.
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Check out Chapter 4, in the new book Sea Turtle Research and Conservation!
Authored by Dr. Page-Karjian along with Dr. Justin Perrault, the chapter discusses Sea Turtle Health Assessments: Maximizing Turtle Encounters to Better Understand Health. |
Check out our research crowdfunding page on Experiment.com.
https://experiment.com/projects/the-price-of-plastic-health-impacts-on-inshore-fish-in-the-florida-keys Here you can delve into what this project is all about, look through the project timeline, and stay up to date with Lab Notes from the team. The campaign will only be open for the month of September 2020, so we would love for you to consider donating to this important research! |
Health Impacts of Plastic on Inshore Fish in the Florida Keys |
We have a new paper published in Endangered Species Research.
For the study, we collected blood samples from 60 female green turtles that nested on Juno Beach in 2017 and evaluated a broad suite of biological and health data, including measures of reproductive success, morphometrics, hematology, plasma chemistry, plasma protein fractions, haptoglobin, corticosterone, and measures of oxidative stress, antioxidative capacity, and innate immunity. We also tested for two herpesviruses of green turtles, ChHV5 and ChHV6, which are implicated in fibro-papillomatosis (FP) and respiratory and skin disease, respectively. This research gives us new insight into the health status of this endangered species, which can help inform conservation effort in the future. You can read more about this research here: www.fau.edu/newsdesk/articles/nesting-sea-turtles.php |
Project Title: Green turtle health, biotoxin exposure, and foraging ecology in Lake Worth Lagoon, Florida
Project Manager: Dr. Annie Page-Karjian Organization: Florida Atlantic University Grant Amount: $23,470.00 A major threat to Florida’s ecosystems and wildlife health is the occurrence of harmful algal and/or cyanobacterial blooms (HABs), which are increasing in frequency, duration, and range, particularly in Florida. Biotoxins released during HABs can lead to lethal and sublethal consequences, such as decreased immune function, that affect the health and survival of organisms at multiple trophic levels. These effects can be especially detrimental to endangered species such as sea turtles and are important when considering life-histories and population viability analyses. To better understand the correlations between ecosystem health, diet, and health status in sea turtles, and how these may link to the effects of biotoxin exposure in juvenile green turtles foraging in Lake Worth Lagoon (LWL), Florida, we will complete the following objectives:
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Congratulations Marisa!
Congratulations to Marine Science and Oceanography student Marisa Pico, who was recently awarded the Medway Scholarship from the International Association of Aquatic Animal Medicine! This scholarship will help support her work on her Master's thesis project to validate the use of ultrasound to estimate body condition in green and loggerhead sea turtles. Way to go, Marisa!
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New Publication in Toxicon: X
Harmful algal and cyanobacterial toxins in foraging green turtles (Chelonia mydas) in Florida's Big Bend
Justin R. Perrault, Christopher R. Perkins, Matthew J. Ajemian, Michael J. Bresette, Cody R. Mott, Annie Page-Karjian doi.org/10.1016/j.toxcx.2019.100020 |
New Publication in Diseases of Aquatic Organisms
Tumor re-growth, case outcome, and tumor scoring systems in rehabilitated green turtles with fibropapillomatosis
Annie Page-Karjian*, Justin R. Perrault, Bette Zirkelbach, Jamie Pescatore, Rebecca Riley, Melanie Stadler, Trevor T. Zachariah, Wendy Marks, Terry M. Norton doi.org/10.3354/dao03426 |
In June 2019, Dr. Annie-Page Karjian conducted a study on green sea turtles threatened by fibropapillomatosis in the Florida Keys. She was joined by Force Blue, a nonprofit ocean conservation group for former military divers. Retired veterans assisted by catching sea turtles in the water so that veterinarians and researchers could take important measurements and samples. Several of the veterans suffer from PTSD, and participating in conservation efforts such as these gives them a new mission. Roger Sparks, pictured on the right with Dr. Page-Karjian, served in Afghanistan and has earned a silver star medal for his valor in combat. The team caught 26 turtles on their 10 day expedition. Any sea turtles that showed severe fibropapillomatosis were taken to The Turtle Hospital for treatment and hopeful release. Marine turtle research conducted under NMFS ESA Permit No. 21169, FWC MTP 125, and FAU IACUC approval of all animal-related activities.. |
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One of our summer interns, Kathleen Rafferty, conducted a comprehensive health assessment of gopher tortoises right here on the Harbor Branch campus. She ran a successful crowdfunding campaign and raised $2,416!! Way to go, Kathleen! These funds were used to complete the laboratory analysis of samples that she collected. Many thanks to everyone who donated to support our work!!
https://experiment.com/projects/comprehensive-health-assessment-of-gopher-tortoises-inhabiting-fragmented-habitat-in-south-florida This gopher tortoise was spotted right outside the student dormitories at Harbor Branch. He will hopefully be a part of the study once we start our field work! Look how high up his burrow is!
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Catherine has been an exemplary graduate student during her time at Florida Atlantic University. She traveled from her home town of Portland, Oregon to Florida to work with Dr. Annie Page-Karjian in the Marine Wildlife Veterinary Medicine and Research Lab at FAU Harbor Branch.
Catherine’s graduate research project was focused on anthropogenic contaminants and pathology in stranded marine mammals. She showed great enthusiasm for taking on this expansive project, which included analyzing complex data sets and interpreting pathology findings, and is expected to result in a timely and impactful scientific publication. She has presented her research in the scientific posters and oral presentations at the 6th Florida Marine Mammal Health Conference, the 49th Annual International Assocation for Aquatic Animal Medicine Meeting and Conference, the 67th Annual International Conference of the Wildlife Disease Association, the 2019 Indian River Lagoon Symposium, and the 10th Annual FAU Graduate and Professional Research Day. She also attended two workshops: the Conservation Medicine One Health Wildlife Diseases workshop at the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine, and the Florida Keys Sea Turtle Health Workshop. |
In March 2019, Dr. Page-Karjian's lab was catching green sea turtles in the Indian River Lagoon in collaboration with Inwater Research Group. Many of the sea turtles that were caught had severe fibropapillomatosis.
On the same trip, we also caught a Loggerhead with an old wound from a propeller strike. He was transferred to the Loggerhead Marinelife Center for rehabilitation and was named Howard! He is doing well and is expected to fully recover even though he was severely anemic from blood loss due to his injuries.
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FAU MSO student Catherine Lo responded to a stranded green sea turtle that was found on the beach in Fort Pierce, FL. The turtle is now in the care of Loggerhead Marinelife Center, where it will get the care it needs. Way to go, Catherine! *Stranding response activities conducted under permit from the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (MTP #139). |
In collaboration with Dr. Justin Perrault of Loggerhead Marinelife Center, Dr. Page-Karjian co-authored the recent publication, Evidence of accumulation and elimination of inorganic contaminants from the lachrymal salt glands of leatherback sea turtles (Dermochelys coriacea), published in the journal Chemosphere.
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This research is also funded in part by a grant awarded from the Sea Turtle Grants Program. The Sea Turtle Grants Program is funded from proceeds from the sale of the Florida Sea Turtle License Plate. Learn more at www.helpingseaturtles.org.
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