Imagine if 99% of newborns were girls. This is exactly what is happening with the sea turtle populations in Florida. A recent heat wave has made the sand on some beaches so hot that most turtles born there are female, reports a Portal news agency carried by CNN.
What is the relationship between heat and sex in these babies? According to the United States Agency for Oceanic and Atmospheric Observation, as with baby alligators, the latter is not determined during fertilization, but by the temperature of the environment in which the eggs develop. If this is below 27.7°C, males hatch from the hatching eggs. On the other hand, if the temperature is above 31°C, they are females.
But what’s “frightening,” points out Bette Zilkebach, director of the Turtle Hospital in Marathon, in the Keys archipelago, is that in four years Florida has experienced its hottest summers on record.
The fact that there are only 1% of baby male turtles left is just another example of the climate crisis disrupting Earth’s ecosystems. Global warming is so fast that it doesn’t give animal species time to adapt.
The situation is similar in Australia: According to a study published in 2018, 99% of the newborn green turtles in the country were female at the time. And although one male will fertilize multiple females, this will be a problem over time.
We’ll never see again
the turtle family?
“Without genetic diversity, you’re going to see a dramatic decline in turtle numbers over the years,” said Melissa Rosales Rodriguez of Zoo Miami’s Turtle Clinic. “We don’t have the male-to-female ratio necessary for successful mating,” she adds.
In addition, veterinary clinics specializing in the care of turtles fight fibropapillomatosis, a herpes-like form of the papilloma virus. These tumors are transmitted from one species of turtle to another and can result in the death of sick reptiles if left untreated.
As turtles suffer from both the effects of climate change and the rapid spread of this disease, the director of the Marathon Clinic feels there is an urgent need to open more specialized centers. “Turtle Hospital was the first care center in Florida, today we need more.”