Marcos Daniel Institute — Brazil (2015)

Located in Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil, the Marcos Daniel Institute’s (IMD) main objective is to empower people to conserve nature. The Chelonia Mydas Project is an initiative of IMD to monitor and evaluate the health of sea turtles in Brazil. The project analyzes blood samples from turtles to evaluate clinical parameters and to measure pollutants that occur in sea turtles in different locations throughout Brazil.

Previously, the project’s researchers have found that Brazilian green turtles have detectable levels of oil pollutants. A 2015 SWOT grant helped IMD to expand its work to understand how plasma oil hydrocarbon concentrations affect the health of sea turtles and how those concentrations vary by region and by species. This information will help to evaluate the risk that the oil industry poses to sea turtles in Brazil (including within marine-protected areas) and ultimately will help to ensure that appropriate mitigation measures are in place.