New Mystery Disease 'Eating Away' Marine Turtles' Shells

Recent floods and a new mystery disease have been impacting sea turtles in Australia. The disease is said to be "eating away" the creatures' shells.

"Turtles in Trouble Rescue" is a new group that was formed by marine rescue volunteers and the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) in Australia. Since floods hit parts of Queensland and New South Wales in February, the group has been receiving a lot of reports of turtle strandings in the Fraser Coast Region.

"We had a record 99 call-outs in March, more than half had no visible injuries or obvious illness – they were perhaps resting and conserving energy while searching for food," the group's co-coordinator, Ali Hammond, said in a news release. "April has been busy so far, with an increase in the number of deceased turtles washing up on beaches."

The sediment that washed out during the floods ended up smothering the seagrass that the turtles rely on for food, USC Associate Professor Kathy Townsend explained. Usually, the sea turtles fatten up during the summer, just in time for winter (June to August in Australia). However, the issue has led to poor health and turtle strandings. Many of them even had signs of malnourishment, according to Hammond.

"We anticipate seeing more starving and deceased turtles as winter progresses," Townsend added.

Apart from the dire impacts of the flooding, there is another thing that has been impacting turtles in the area: a new mystery disease that's said to be "eating away" the creatures' shells. The disease was first spotted late last year, but more cases came up following the floods. Many of them have shedding scales and even soft portions in their shells, "sometimes exposing bare bone."

"This is the first time this has been documented in sea turtles, and so far, we believe it is contained to the Wide Bay region," said Townsend.

In response, experts and rescuers have been working together to find more information about the mystery disease. Experts are trying to identify the nature of the disease – whether it's viral, parasitic, bacterial, or caused by pollutants.

"As rescuers, we've got the boots on the ground, we are getting to know our local turtles and see them on a regular basis and we understand their movements and their health over time," Hammond said. "To rescue and rehabilitate one turtle and get it back out into the wild is awesome, but to understand the reason why that turtle stranded in the first place, and to help mitigate that is incredibly important."