GE score and treatment

In addition to the methods mentioned in the previous section, ultrasonography and radiography were used to assess the presence (1) or absence (0) of GE, and to score the severity of bubble density on a scale from 0 (no bubbles), to 5 (most severe), as previously detailed (Fahlman et al., 2017). Descriptive statistics for parameters examined using our analyses are provided in Table 2.

Number of turtles with GE score on a range from 1 to 5 for the different fisheries gear types. The number in superscript is the number of turtles that arrived alive with a specific GE score and later died. Subscripted numbers are number of turtles that died within each GE score

Animals with GE were immediately treated with Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) for 10–16 h at 2.6 ATA (García-Párraga and Crespo-Picazo, 2019b). All activities related to veterinary evaluation of bycaught turtles were conducted under an official signed agreement provided by the Government of the Valencia Region. The objective of the veterinary activities was to provide appropriate care and maximize survivorship, and no procedures were conducted solely for research purposes.