Fibropapillomatosis, a viral tumor disease affecting sea turtles, has reached epidemic proportions in some populations, causing disfiguring tumors that impair survival.
Turtles with severe fibropapillomatosis suffer from impaired vision, movement, and organ function from large tumor burdens. Blind turtles cannot hunt effectively, leading to malnutrition. Tumors on flippers impair swimming efficiency. The connection between coastal water quality and disease prevalence means FP is partly a human-caused welfare crisis - agricultural pollution is driving epidemics in an already endangered population. Rehabilitation can save individual animals but cannot address the environmental causes.