Sick Green turtle with large growths on body rescued by yacht crew near Lazarus Island

The critically endangered animal was handed over to NParks.

Zi Shan Kow | August 08, 2022, 08:28 PM

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Another sea turtle has recently been spotted in Singapore waters, but this time, it's one in need of help.

Struggling to dive

Yacht hire company Circa Sail Yacht Charters shared the incident, which took place on Aug. 6, on Facebook.

Mothership spoke to Odeen, the captain of the charter.

He had been observing the yacht guests kayaking in the waters near Lazarus Island when he heard those on a nearby boat shouting about a turtle.

Though Odeen said he has seen turtles many times in the area, he pointed it out to his guests as they might not have seen the wild animal before.

However, he thought it was strange that the usually shy creature remained on the surface of the water when the kayakers got closer.

He added that the turtle seemed weak and "looked silly" when it was trying to dive into the water.

"Humans don't usually get the chance to go too near to a turtle, but this one looked like it had no other choice," said Odeen.

Sensing something was wrong, he jumped into the water himself, grabbed it from the back, and brought it onboard.

"If left floating in the water, a jet ski or a boat might hit it," he explained.

Growths on its body

Only with a closer look did they discover that the turtle had multiple lesions on its body.

"The dude had huge growths on its face, eyes and flippers. Blood was oozing from it too," said Odeen.

He contacted a friend involved in turtle conservation, as well as Acres.

He eventually managed to get in touch with the National Parks Board (NParks), which directed him to their Marine Park team who could take the animal in.

At the end of the charter, Odeen handed the turtle over to NParks when the yacht docked at ONEo15 Marina.

The turtle was brought to the vet for further assessment.

Image by Circa Sail Yacht Charters.

Likely caused by virus infection

The Facebook post was shared on the Nature Society (Singapore) Facebook group, where nature guide Ivan Kwan commented that the growths were possibly caused by a disease known as fibropapillomatosis.

The disease causes sea turtles to develop cauliflower-like tumours.

It is associated with infections by a particular type of herpes virus that only affects sea turtles.

In more serious cases, larger and widespread tumours can affect the animal's ability to see, swim and feed, resulting in death.

Sea turtles in Singapore

Singapore is home to two species of turtles: the Green turtle and the Hawksbill turtle.

The Hawksbill turtle is more commonly found in Singapore, even though both are listed as critically endangered species locally.

Aside from natural predators and natural illness, they are also threatened by poaching and collisions with boat propellers.

Marine pollution can also cause death when the turtles get tangled in abandoned fishing nets, or from consuming plastic items.

While there are no records of Green turtles nesting on Singapore shores, Hawksbill turtles do nest here.

Their hatching season falls between June and September each year.

Top images by Circa Sail Yacht Charters/Facebook.