Brevetoxin in blood, biological fluids, and tissues of sea turtles naturally exposed to Karenia brevis blooms in central west Florida.

In 2005 and 2006, the central west Florida coast experienced two intense Karenia brevis red tide events lasting from February 2005 through December 2005 and August 2006 through December 2006. Strandings of sea turtles were increased in the study area with 318 turtles (n = 174, 2005; n = 144, 2006) stranding between 1 January 2005 and 31 December 2006 compared to the 12-yr average of 43 +/- 23 turtles. Live turtles (n = 61) admitted for rehabilitation showed clinical signs including unresponsiveness, paresis, and circling.

Tissue enzyme activities in the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta).

The loggerhead sea turtle, Caretta caretta, one of the seven species of threatened or endangered sea turtles worldwide, is one of the most commonly encountered marine turtles off the eastern coast of the United States and Gulf of Mexico. Although biochemical reference ranges have been evaluated for several species of sea turtles, tissue specificity of the commonly used plasma enzymes is lacking. This study evaluated the tissue specificity of eight enzymes, including amylase, lipase, creatine kinase (CK), gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT), in 30 tissues from five stranded loggerhead sea turtles with no evidence of infectious disease.