Postmortem investigations on a leatherback turtle Dermochelys coriacea stranded along the Northern Adriatic coastline

Leatherback turtles Dermochelys coriacea are regularly reported in the Mediterranean Sea but rarely reach the northern Adriatic Sea. In the summer of 2009, a well-preserved carcass of an adult female of this species was found dead along the coast of Lido di Venezia. A complete necropsy was carried out along with tissue trace element levels evaluation. The results of the postmortem studies revealed an acute severe bacterial gastroenteritis caused by Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida, an opportunistic agent that infected an apparently debilitated animal weakened by ingested plastic debris. High levels of heavy metals (Hg, Pb, Cd, As) found in liver and kidneys might have contributed to the animal’s demise. These findings support previous indications that marine debris is one of the major threats to marine animals, particularly for critically endangered species such as the leatherback turtle.