A novel feeding method to stimulate and improve living conditions

of sea turtles living in captivity

 

During my undergraduate studies, I worked at the Israel Sea Turtle Rescue Center with loggerheads and green sea turtles. First as a volunteer caretaker and then as a part-time employee- I conducted a study on the efficacy of a environmental enrichment programs for captive green turtles (part of a captive breeding program). We developed (along with group members mentioned below) unique enrichment devices aimed at increasing turtles’ physical activity as they feed in their tanks. Physical and biochemical data were throughout the enrichment program in order to evaluate its effect.

 

The study was conducted at the Israel Sea Turtle Rescue Center, in collaboration with Ofer Shelter, Liraz Levi, Eyal Bigal, and the Center's director Mr. Yaniv Levy.

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Online video demonstrating the enrichment program in action.

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[poster presented at The 32nd Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation, 2012]