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A sea turtle is released to the wild after being raised at the Cayman Turtle Conservation and Education Centre. (Photo: Cayman Turtle Conservation and Education Centre)

Since beginning its release programmes in 1980, the Cayman Turtle Conservation and Education Centre has released more than 36,000 Green sea turtles to the wild. It’s a staggering number that reflects what can be achieved on behalf of vulnerable species.

Recording each day’s work is an integral part of the Centre’s success and expands what is known about the species in its care. Every head-start turtle at the Centre receives its own set of records, which include details on the animal’s condition, diet, weight, growth, any medical treatments, and more.

Record keeping is essential to ensure that everyone is on the same page with an animal’s care, including veterinarians and care teams.

Dr. Vandanaa Naveena Baboolal, Veterinarian, Cayman Turtle Conservation and Education Centre

These records are maintained using the Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS), the world’s largest set of data on species in human care, and stay with the turtle throughout its life. When an individual is released to the wild, it is tagged and the date and location of the release is recorded in ZIMS, along with metrics such as weight and carapace measurements.

This information becomes invaluable in the long term, says Dr. Vandanaa Naveena Baboolal, Veterinarian at the Cayman Turtle Conservation and Education Centre. For example, when the Cayman Islands Department of Environment researchers scanned a wild turtle during a 2022 population survey and messaged the Centre, they were able to trace its origin and subsequent growth.

“I was able to go into ZIMS, search for the tag number and screenshot information about the turtle, including when and where it had been released,” said Dr. Baboolal. Asking the Department of Environment surveyors to take similar metrics, the Centre determined how much the turtle had grown since its release in 2018 —- and shared the good news with sponsors.

Day to day, similar metrics are foundational to the care and welfare of individual animals. “Record keeping is essential to ensure that everyone is on the same page with an animal’s care, including veterinarians and care teams,” said Dr. Baboolal.

“Previous medical records allow teams to know what dose of a drug was given, treatments that have been successful, and whether an animal has a reaction to any changes in enclosure, feed, or medication.”

Visitors gather to learn about sea turtles and conservation during a scheduled publis release by the Cayman Turtle Conservation and Education Centre. (Photo: Cayman Turtle Conservation and Education Centre)

From experience, it is good welfare practice to keep quality records.

Geddes Hislop, Curator, Terrestrial Exhibits & Education Programmes, Cayman Turtle Centre

By generating professional reports and summaries, ZIMS also helps staff to manage transfers and deliver detailed historical data required to renew Protected Species permits and inspections, says Geddes Hislop, Curator, Terrestrial Exhibits & Education Programmes, Cayman Turtle Centre.

“If an animal is transferred to a different facility, we can allow teams there to access the individual’s medical files and detailed records. This is quite helpful. And, from experience it is good welfare practice to keep quality records so as not to have bias in making assumptions or estimates, or even determining best practices in dealing with recurring matters,” said Hislop.

Looking ahead, staff draw insight from previous years’ records and use it to help prevent or respond more quickly to seasonal behaviors, feeding issues or habitat trends, such as excess algal growth in the summer.

In all, Centre staff record information daily regarding individual turtles in the hatchery tanks, quarantine tanks, and display tanks which includes the Breeder Pond. They record data on other marine animals, terrestrial animals and birds, including births, deaths, transfers, nesting information and more.

Staff use ZIMS to help monitor behavioral trends and feeding, weight, and breeding records. And ZIMS provides answers for queries from colleagues or researchers regarding all of the animals at the Centre, says Hislop.

Ultimately, each adult turtle living at the Centre has an individual tag and ZIMS medical record. Records are updated annually to reflect weight, the length and the width of the shell, and the body condition, as well as results of a general medical checkup.

This data helps staff to ensure that the turtles have a healthy weight, they’re eating well, and growing at the rate they should, as well as tracking the youngest and oldest, heaviest and lightest animals in the enclosure, said Dr. Baboolal.

Breeding couple Sweetpea and Leo, at the Cayman Turtle Conservation and Education Centre. (Photo: Cayman Turtle Conservation and Education Centre)

“It’s so helpful to have the information readily available when you log on to ZIMS. If there is an unwell animal I can pull up its medical records and see what its last weight recorded was, or if it had been treated previously. The benefit is that I can access ZIMS on any computer, so I don’t have to be at the Vet office to get information, if needed. It’s also great to extract data,” said Dr. Baboolal.

For example, Centre staff recently extracted the weights of individual Cayman parrots that they had been monitoring for a year. The data allowed staff to examine fluctuation in weights during the changing seasons such as the breeding season — and helped with monitoring the results of changing their diet.

Lead Aquarist Adam Jackson says that ZIMS is also used to track all incoming and outgoing fish species in the Marine quarantine enclosure, which helps to populate the saltwater lagoon and predator reef exhibits.

“Most of the larger species of fish and sharks have records on ZIMS and recently the team completed measuring the nurse sharks on display and compared those to the previous measurements recorded to monitor their growth,” said Jackson.

Thanks to the efforts of institutions like the Cayman Turtle Conservation and Education Centre, which has been a member of nonprofit Species360 for more than ten years, data recorded in ZIMS contributes to global knowledge of species. Species360 maintains ZIMS and facilitates the collaboration and sharing of information among over 1,300 institutions worldwide. By aggregating and applying analytics to that data, Species360 provides reference data and insights that help veterinarians, marine biologists, animal care teams, conservation agencies and others to ensure the welfare of individual animals and protect vulnerable populations.

Learn more about the Cayman Turtle Conservation and Education Centre (CTCEC).

A sea turtle is released to the wild after being raised at the Cayman Turtle Conservation and Education Centre. (Photo: Cayman Turtle Conservation and Education Centre)

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