Sea turtles living in the Hawaii area have been developing dangerous tumors at an increasing rate and scientists say they’ve figured out why.
Sea turtles living in Hawaiian waters have been developing dangerous tumors at an increasing rate, and scientists say they’ve figured out why.
The source has been identified as the nitrogen runoff from nearby cities and farms.
Researchers involved in the study built upon previous findings linking high nitrogen levels in the sea with the development of a fatal green turtle disease.
Among the telltale signs of illness are the developments of tumors on the flippers, eyes, and internal organs.
Scientists decided to take a closer look at what the turtle’s eat, particularly the algae that’s readily available to them.
They found that a particular type of red algae containing large quantities of a harmful amino acid proliferates in waters with high nitrogen content.
An association was also made between the consumption of the algae and the development of the deadly disease.
Further aggravating the problem is that turtles have to eat twice as much of the bad algae to get the same amount of calories they get from uncontaminated algae.
The team hopes that their findings will help inform future initiatives.
