Green sea turtle rescued, but euthanized because of FP disease
By MEGHAN McCOY
A green sea turtle that was rescued at J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge last week was euthanized after examinations showed the fibropapilomatosis tumors had gone internal.
Becky Larkins, J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge education ranger, said on Tuesday, Sept. 27, it was reported that there was an injured sea turtle on the right hand side of Wildlife Drive.
The green sea turtle ended up being pushed to the left side of Wildlife Drive, closer to the refuge, when Larkins and Visitor Services intern Monica Scroggin put a kayak in the water to rescue the distressed turtle.
The green sea turtle was on the sandbar having difficulty swimming.
On the second try Larkins was able to scoop the turtle with a net and immediately looked to see if the turtle was entangled with fishing line. That initial examination resulted in finding a tumor on its backside flipper, as well as around the eyes.
“The turtle was lethargic and tired,” she said, adding that the beautiful turtle had a tumor weighing it down.
Once they kayaked back to shore they called the refuge to tell CROW the turtle was coming.
Larkins said that was the first time she ever physically saw a green sea turtle at the refuge. She said the turtle may have been eating the sea grass and got sucked in by the current.
“I’ve never helped a green before,” Larkins said. “To hold an endangered sea turtle was a good experience.”
The male green sea turtle, which was approximately 3 years old, had to be euthanized Tuesday, Sept. 27, because the FP tumors were internal. This year CROW has had three green sea turtles affected by the FP disease, representing a fourth of their cases.
“It is hard to age them just based on size alone because how quickly they grow depends on a lot of things – their health state, how much food they have access to, the temperature of the water – all of these things will have an impact,” Dr. Heather Barron, CROW hospital director, said.
The medical staff at CROW was able to decipher whether or not the tumors had gone internal through such diagnostics as X-rays, MRIs, abdominal ultrasound and a laparoscopy scope.
She said FP is caused by a herpes virus, which causes tumors to grow as a result of the viral infection. Although all sea turtles, except leatherbacks can catch the virus, it is mostly found in green sea turtles.
“Like a lot of herpes viruses, we suspect that when the animal is suppressed or compromised in some way that sometimes allows the herpes virus to get out of control,” Barron said. “In a lot of species herpes is forever. Sometimes animals will have clinical signs and not look too bad and sometimes they will break with the clinical disease.”
Scientists are still in the process of understanding the FP disease with tons of research currently being conducted. She said they understand more of possible modes of transmission, but they still do not completely understand how the virus is transmitted and why some animals break with the disease.
“Some places you have no diseases at all,” Barron said. “For example, the Cayman Islands is an easy swim for sea turtles, but yet we had no fibropapilomatosis. I worked all the time with sea turtles in the Cayman Islands. Plus I was a dive master, so I was in the water with them all the time and never saw any fibropapilomatosis while I was there.”
She said it is really a mystery why the coast of Florida is witnessing a massive problem with the disease. It has been documented that anywhere from 31 to 62 percent of the sea turtles in this area have been affected by FP.
“Usually it is young green sea turtles like the one we had come in the other day,” Barron said.
In Hawaii, although the prevalence rate has been in the 90 percentile range for certain parts of the island, it is now seeing a decline in the numbers of sea turtles affected by FP.
Barron said the quality of the water may be leading to some of the suppression, which is why the virus could be getting out of control in Florida.
The sea turtles may be able to receive treatment if the tumors are not too bad. Sometimes the tumor can be removed surgically and if they do not grow back within four to six months that animal in the past has been released, which may change with research being conducted.
In the state of Florida, sea turtle facilities are divided into FP free facilities, which is what CROW is, and facilities that can care for sea turtles that have the disease.
If a sea turtle comes in with the FP disease, they are quarantined until the decision is made whether or not the turtle has to be euthanized. Barron said that decision is based on whether they think the tumors is curable. She said if the tumor is internal, the outcome is more gray.
“If it is just external and it is not too bad we will transfer the turtles to a fibropap facility, like Mote Marine or Marathon Turtle Hospital in the Keys. They will address it surgically,” Barron said of the sea turtle. “At Marathon over half of their patients are affected.”
On occasion the turtles have shown spontaneous tumor suppression. In theory, Barron said their body may be able to overcome the virus and heal the tumor.
“Usually when they come in they are pretty debilitated. Often times the tumor interferes with their ability to get food, so they are often very thin and anemic. You have to be very careful because it is sought to be very contagious,” she said.
Although the population of green sea turtles has been on the rise over the last handful of years due to individuals being more aware of how to protect their nesting season, the FP disease has unfortunately had an impact on the species.
“There has been a significant decline on some populations around the world,” Barron said.
If an individual sees a green sea turtle affected by the FP disease they should call CROW, or Florida Fish and Wildlife.
She said if the turtle appears to be in intermediate stress – washing in the surf – it would be good to get them out of the water and wet a towel to place over the animal to keep it cool and from getting sunburned. The turtle should also be taken out of the rolling surf so it does not drown.
“They don’t need to breath in water (because) they are reptiles. They breath air like we do. If they feel like the animal is in danger of drowning, they can pull it out of the water and call someone right away,” Barron said.
The first FP case was documented in 1938. The tumors can be located anywhere on the sea turtles skin.