Green Turtle Welfare: Fibropapillomatosis in Hawaii and Florida

Fibropapillomatosis is a debilitating tumour disease affecting green sea turtles in Hawaii, Florida, and tropical waters worldwide, causing severe welfare harms in affected individuals and straining rehabilitation capacity.

Key Facts

Fibropapillomatosis (FP) affects green turtles globally, with particularly high prevalence in Hawaii and Florida
The disease causes large tumours on skin, eyes, flippers, and internal organs that impair swimming, vision, and feeding
FP is associated with herpesvirus (ChHV5) and is linked to poor water quality and algal blooms in coastal habitats
Severely affected turtles strand on beaches, unable to feed or swim effectively

Welfare Considerations

Green turtles with large periocular tumours (around the eyes) become partially or fully blind, unable to hunt prey or avoid predators. Flipper tumours impair swimming efficiency, causing exhaustion and emaciation. Internal tumours on organs cause systemic illness. Turtles with severe FP that reach beaches are debilitated and dehydrated. Surgical tumour removal under anaesthesia followed by months of rehabilitation is the only treatment — success rates depend on disease severity and individual resilience. Many severely affected turtles do not survive treatment.

What You Can Do

Donate to Turtle Hospital (Marathon, Florida) and Sea Life Park (Hawaii) FP rehabilitation programmes
Support water quality improvement in coastal turtle habitat to reduce FP prevalence triggers
Report turtles with tumours to NOAA Fisheries or local sea turtle rescue organisations
Raise awareness of FP as a major welfare and conservation issue for green sea turtles in coastal habitats