LATimes: Hospital puts endangered green sea turtles with tumors on fast track

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-na-turtles29-2010jan29,0,1037195.story

Forty scientists and veterinarians take part in removal of noncancerous growths from reptiles at a Florida nature center. Tumors are turning up on the turtles worldwide, but their cause is unknown.


Veterinarian Nancy Mettee gets help operating on a green sea turtle at the Gumbo Limbo Nature's Center in Florida. Many of the 170 turtles brought to the center during a recent cold spell were found to be covered with tumors. (Carline Jean / South Florida Sun-Sentinel / January 26, 2010)


By C. Ron Allen

January 29, 2010

Reporting from Boca Raton, Fla. - The hospital waiting room was packed with patients, but not with humans. These were endangered green sea turtles covered with golf-ball-sized growths.

At least 40 scientists and veterinarians participated in delicate surgeries at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center on Tuesday to remove noncancerous tumors, called fibropapilloma. The tumors, some of them on the turtles' eyes, resembled moldy cauliflower.

Once the tumors are removed, some turtles will have a chance to regain lost sight.

"We kind of look at it like an alien abduction," said Cody Mott, project manager at Gumbo Limbo in Boca Raton, Fla. "Somebody picks them up out of the water and takes them somewhere on a ship, and next thing you know, somebody is poking and prodding them. They're probably not in the best moods to be here, but in the long run, it's in their benefit. They do recover really well."

The tumors have turned up in alarming numbers on sea turtles all over the world, and researchers are scrambling to find a cure. Most of Tuesday's patients were brought in during Florida's recent cold spell. Veterinarians became concerned after discovering that many of the 170 turtles were covered with tumors.

"A lot of these guys have these tumors all around their eyelids; on their eyeballs . . . and that can really compromise them out in the wild," said Joshua Broadwater, an animal ophthalmologist who helped with the surgeries.

FULL story at link.

[kestrel91316]

1. .......waiting for DU's very own vet-haters to chime in in 3...2...1.....

[kbuster]

2. Teamsters and turtles together!!

Teamsters and turtles together!!

[Omaha Steve]

3. Kick