An ever-increasing number of Australian sea turtles have presented a strange disease, the causes of which remain unknown to this day. Documented for the first time at the end of 2021, this pathology that "consumes" the carapace affects marine reptiles on the Sunshine Coast with a higher incidence
In southern Australia, and particularly along the Sunshine Coast, scholars and veterinarians are concerned about the spread of a disease among coastal sea turtles, the cause of which is not yet known.
Almost all the recovered specimens have a very soft carapace, in some places almost "devoured" enough to expose the bones of marine reptiles. However, it is not yet clear what could have deteriorated it and how the turtles contract the disease as it was only documented at the end of last year.
Is it a virus, a bacterium or perhaps some parasite? The assumptions are many, but according to Dr. Kathy Townsend of the University of the Sunshine Coast, the most probable hypothesis is the malnutrition of sea turtles.
Unfortunately, the floods recorded in the country have forced these marine creatures to struggle to find their main source of food: algae.
Sediment washed away by rivers and streams during incessant rain is suffocating seaweed beds in flood-affected areas along the Queensland and New South Wales coast, reducing the quality and quantity of the turtles' main food source. Sea turtles usually spend the summer eating algae before they finish their life cycle, but floods have affected everything, resulting in poor turtle health and more stranding. We expect to see more starving and deceased turtles as winter progresses,
explained the university expert who is sharing the results of the analyzes and discoveries with the University of Queensland School of Veterinary Science and the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service.
The Department of Animal Ecology has put together a team of rescuers to help Australian sea turtles in distress. Since March the Sunshine Coast polo and the Turtles in Trouble Rescue organization have received more than 100 distress calls.
The most serious cases are kept under observation at the Veterinary Hospital of Australia Zoo in Beerwah, while the others are treated in the various centers for the protection of wildlife, while trying to understand what caused this mysterious disease.
Fonte: University of the Sunshine Coast
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