A mystery disease is affecting green sea turtles off southern Queensland, with a major wildlife hospital warning it has treated almost 80 in the past 12 months.
Some turtles being brought to the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital have open wounds so severe that veterinary teams can see bone underneath.
Hospital vets suspect floodwaters of early 2022 have damaged the seagrass meadows that sea turtles rely upon, forcing the herbivores to eat other things.
Hospital supervisor Ludo Valenza said the first turtles being treated were the older, rarer individuals that often weighed over 100 kilograms.
Then, vets began also seeing the younger, smaller turtles affected.
Across 2022, Dr Valenza said the hospital treated scores of cases of the "grotesque" disease.
"We admitted 76 green sea turtles affected by this horrendous disease," she said.
"But what we see on the outside is only a fragment of what is going on inside these beautiful animals.
"Often they have severe gastro-intestinal lesions and they're actually septic, meaning that their blood is also infected."
The focus of the hospital is to support turtles with milder wounds because they respond better to treatment than those with the most severe symptoms, Dr Valenza says.
She is concerned about the effect the disease is having on reproduction for the species.
"Green sea turtles are an endangered species, and an adult sea turtle will breed only every two to three years," she said.
"With so many [sexually mature] adults coming into our care … it means that these animals aren't out in the wild producing or reproducing, which is a very scary thought.
"If we don't act now to try to save these animals, I am really worried for future generations to come."
Team effort to find cause, cure
Dr Valenza says there is hope, despite a cure not yet being found for the disease.
"This disease has been around for the past two years, and I feel like we are moving closer to finding the cause," she said.
"Councils and the government and universities are working hard at trying to actually investigate what's going on.
"But as a big team performing roles in all different sectors, I hope that we will eventually come up with a solution to what is causing this."
Alongside the mystery illness, most turtles in care are suffering from "soft-shell syndrome".
The turtles are given medication but still take months to recover.
Despite a team effort to stop the sea turtle illness, Dr Valenza says the impacts of human activities like boating and fishing are also sending the reptiles to hospital.
"We've also seen large turtles admitted after being hit by boats or fishing line ingestion," she said.
"The natural environment of these beautiful animals is being severely compromised,
"I am extremely concerned for their long-term survival in the ocean."
