EFFECTS OF "SWIM WITH THE TURTLES" TOURIST ATTRACTIONS ON GREEN SEA TURTLE (CHELONIA MYDAS) HEALTH IN BARBADOS, WEST INDIES.

Along the West Coast of Barbados a unique relationship has developed between endangered green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) and humans. Fishermen began inadvertently provisioning these foraging turtles with fish offal discarded from their boats. Although initially an indirect supplementation, this activity became a popular attraction for visitors. Subsequently, demand for this activity increased, and direct supplementation or provisioning with food began. Food items offered included raw whole fish (typically a mixture of false herring [Harengula clupeola] and pilchard [Harengula humeralis]), filleted fish, and lesser amounts of processed food such as hot dogs, chicken, bread, or various other leftovers. Alterations in behavior and growth rates as a result of the provisioning have been documented in this population. The purpose of this study was to determine how tourism-based human interactions are affecting the overall health of this foraging population and to determine what potential health risks these interactions may create for sea turtles. Juvenile green sea turtles (n=29) were captured from four sites off the coast of Barbados, West Indies, and categorized into a group that received supplemental feeding as part of a tour (n=11) or an unsupplemented group (n=18) that consisted of individuals that were captured at sites that did not provide supplemental feeding. Following capture, a general health assessment of each animal was conducted. This included weight and morphometric measurements, a systematic physical examination, determination of body condition score and body condition index, epibiota assessment and quantification, and clinical pathology including hematologic and biochemical testing and nutritional assessments. The supplemented group was found to have changes to body condition, vitamin, mineral, hematologic, and biochemical values. Based on these results, recommendations were made to decrease negative behaviors and health impacts for turtles as a result of this provisioning.

Substitution of sugar cane bagasse in the chicken diet and immune response.

Total proteins and protein electrophoresis were made in the sera of broiler chicken (Arber Acres) to evaluate the effect of substitution of basal diet for 4 weeks by either 8% sugar cane bagasse +2% wheat germ or 16% sugar cane bagasse +4% wheat germ whether untreated or incubated with rumen liquor for 72 h and then sterilized with 2 Mrad gamma-irradiation (treated). Both levels of untreated sugar can bagasse (8 and 16%) showed significant decrease in gamma globulins but this decrease had no effect on broiler chicken (45 days) while there was significant increase in total proteins in treated sugar cane bagasse 8% with concomitant increase in alpha 2, beta 1, beta 2 and gamma globulins. These results denoted that addition of rumen liquor to 8% sugar cane bagasse diet have resulted in an improvement in the transportation of micro nutrients and immune response most probably due to its high content of microorganisms constituting high quality animal protein; also more vaccines were recommended in feeding of chicken with sugar cane bagasse for a longer period e.g. laying hens to overcome its suppressive effect on the gamma globulins.

Effects of gossypol content of cottonseed cake on blood constituents in growing-fattening lambs.

The effect of gossypol content of cottonseed cake given as a source of CP in lamb (n = 8) rations was examined on the following blood parameters: plasma total protein, albumin, globulins, urea, glucose, hematocrit, hemoglobin, and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentrations. The diets were isonitrogenous and isocaloric and contained 0, 15, and 30% cottonseed cake for 62 d. Blood samples were taken at the beginning, middle, and end of the experiment. Plasma total protein and globulins were higher at d 30 of the experimental period, but plasma albumin concentration, hematocrit, and hemoglobin were higher at the beginning of the experiment; plasma urea concentration was higher at d 60, and plasma glucose concentration was lower at d 30 of the experiment. The highest fraction in all treatments was albumin, followed by alpha 2-globulin and beta-globulin fractions, and there was no gamma 1-globulin fraction at d 30 and 60 of the experimental period. Liver examination showed significant differences in free gossypol content and accumulation, total N, and total protein percentage among the three treatments. Gossypol toxicity was not observed. The absence of gossypol toxicity in these animals has been attributed to detoxification of free gossypol by the formation of gossypol-protein complex in the rumen.