It's thought a recent herpes outbreak amongst green sea turtles in Australia's Great Barrier Reef has been caused by pollution.
The turtles are afflicted by fibropapillomatosis - a disease specific to the species, caused by a herpesvirus.
Disfiguring tumours grow all over the turtle's body and the severity varies based on locations and individual, says Australia's James Cook University's Karina Jones.
"These tumours can grow in places make it hard for the turtle to see or move. These turtles are also immunosuppressed, which means they are susceptible to other infections as a result of this disease."
It's a disease found all over the world but near Magnetic Island in Cockle Bay, part of the Great Barrier Reef, there's been a massive outbreak.
(Karina Jones / supplied)
"At Cockle Bay, it's usually less than 10 percent of turtles [have fibropapillomatosis], but at this new hotspot within Cockle Bay, roughly half the turtles we catch in that little area have the disease," Ms Jones says.
Poor water quality and pollution are being blamed for the hotspot. It's a trend noted all over the world - including in Florida, Hawaii and Puerto Rico, Ms Jones says.
"We haven't yet pinpointed what specific aspect of poor water quality is responsible for the trend but it is link that is consistently observed."
While the hotspot in Cockle Bay is now the focus of the research, work will still continue along the Great Barrier Reef. The project stretches from Cairns to Moreton Bay and will be looking at what water quality was like in the past as well as the present, along with the rates of the disease.
(Karina Jones / supplied)
It's hoped the research will be out in around 18 months and Ms Jones says it's still early days.
"We only discovered this hotspot in January this year so we have a lot of work ahead of us, but we are looking forward to getting some answers for the turtles."
Until then, the public can help by letting the team know if they see any turtles with the tumours.
"We can't be out on the water every day so any extra data we can get is a great help!"
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