Skip to main content
Workgroup 1

Tumors in Sea Turtles

By February 11, 2015March 10th, 2015No Comments

Author: Thierry M. Work and George H. Balazs

Publication: The Wildlife Professional

Publication Date: 2013

Introduction: Early in July 2013, a colleague in New Caledonia reported the stranding of a green sea turtle on the far northwest of the island. The animal had washed up dead on a rocky beach with multiple large tumors on its neck and hind flippers. To all appearances, the turtle had fibropapillomatosis (FP), a tumor disease affecting marine turtles globally. This was the first known case of FP on the island—an alarming find, and another example of the creeping expansion of this disease in green turtles around the world.

View and download