The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience
Sea Turtle Hospital patient Abu received their swimming papers and had a private release on September 28 at the beach side of River to Sea Preserve Boardwalk (Marineland Beach) in the town of Marineland, Florida.
Abu arrived at the Sea Turtle Hospital on February 13, 2023. He/she came to the hospital from Vilano Beach heavily covered in epibiota, which is algae, tiny crustaceans, and barnacles of different species found on the carapace or shell. Abu also had a mild case of Fibropapillomatosis, commonly referred to as “FP". FP is a tumor causing disease that primarily affects juvenile green sea turtles.
On June 7th Abu had his/her third FP tumor removal surgery with our veterinarian, Dr. Brooke. On August 10th, Abu had his/her final FP tumor removal surgery. Surgery went well and Dr. Brooke was able to remove all new tumors and Abu was able to return to his/her rehab tank.