Jessica (UR) - Sea Turtles Don't Like Climate Change

Everyday we hear more and more about climate change. the temperature increase slightly every year. The beaches get smaller. Then we will get a cold snap and all of a sudden you will hear a comment like, "What happened to global warming?" 

 I wish turtles could talk! What would they have to say about climate change? I can almost guarantee that they would not be happy. 

Cold-Stunned Turtles

In the northwest Atlantic, the number of cold-stunned sea turtles has been on the rise since the 1970's. This is due to the warming on the inlets and bays. As the waters warm, it attracts the turtles. When you thing of warming, you don't think of hypothermia. Well, that is exactly what is happening. 

Now in Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts it gets cold. They get Nor'easters and ice storms. They go ice fishing in the winter, skiing, and, one of my personal favorites, snowmobiling. Does this sound like a good habitat for a sea turtle?

Kemp's Ridley(Lepidochelys kempii)

The most common sea turtle to get cold-stunned is the Kemp's Ridley. They are the smallest of all the species of sea turtles. Before 2009, only 2 (1999 and 2002) years had ever reached a 100 cold-stunned turtles. Since 2009, ever year over 100 cold-stunned turtles are found. Once the sea surface temperature drop to about 10˚C, it becomes dangerous. Once the waters reach about 5.0˚C - 6.5˚C, it is usually too late 😢

This is just the tip of the iceberg. 

When things start warming up, this also creates some problems. 

David T. Booth, from the School of Biological Sciences in Queensland, Australia, has really given some information that I find very valuable. He stated,  "At low temperatures (typically 26–28 °C) predominately males are produced; intermediate temperatures (typically 28–30 °C) produce a good proportion of both males and females, while high temperatures (30–34 °C) produce predominantly females." So, cool equals boy and warm equals girl. Pretty straight forward.

Thermometer

So let's raise the earth's temperature a little bit, only by a single degree or 2. It won't have that much of an impact you say. Wrong! 

By raising the temperature just one or two degrees will produce a multitude of side effects. The nest temperatures will go up. Less males will be born, so the genetic diversity of these turtles will decrease. The polar ice caps will melt faster. Waters levels will rise. The beaches will start disappearing. Then what? Where will these amazing creatures go?

Just a swimmin'

Griffin LP, Griffin CR, Finn JT, Prescott RL, Faherty M, Still BM, et al. (2019) Warming seas increase cold-stunning events for Kemp’s ridley sea turtles in the northwest Atlantic. PLoS ONE 14 (1): e0211503. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal. pone.0211503

Booth DT (2017). Influence of incubation temperature on sea turtle hatchling quality. Integrative Zoology 12, 352–60. doi: 10.1111/1749-4877.12255