Experts say sea turtle season did not go too well, blame heat
MIAMI - Sea turtle nesting season ended just a few days ago, and now researchers know it didn't go that well.
Heat is part of the reason.
"What we saw this season was a successful season for mama turtles, they laid a lot of nests in Broward County," Stephanie Roche with Broward County Sea Turtle Conservation Program said.
But, as it turns out, many of the eggs in those nests didn't hatch.
For perspective, the program in Broward County alone monitors 24 miles of coastline, which includes 26 leatherback nests, 2,958 loggerhead nests, and 374 green turtle nests.
"We saw about a 40% hatch success this year compared to last season, which was about 80% hatch success," Roche said.
The lack of hatchlings was seen all along Florida's coast.
"Even our deepest nests were experiencing days where they were up the middle 90s," Jeanette Wyneken, FAU Biology Professor said.
Wyneken explained ideal conditions are between 70 and 80 degrees, and that can affect sex ratios.
Not only are the eggs sensitive to heat, but heat determines the sex.
So, higher temperatures produce more female turtles, but a lack of males means less chances of reproduction overall.
Wyneken also told CBS 4, during the peak of summer, it was hotter and drier than before, and that was a major factor in not just sex, but survival.
"The eggs are little live embryos that are trapped inside those eggs."
"We're seeing this trend not just in the last year, the year before but for the last decade, we're seeing gradually warmer temperatures," David Anderson with Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton.
The center also monitors hatchlings.
His team found one nest this year that had 100% unhatched eggs, they also found a baby leatherback with a white flipper, it's a genetic mutation caused by prolonged heat exposure.
"We often refer to sea turtles as the canary in the coal mine, 'cause they can tell us so much about the health of our oceans," Anderson added.
If this trend continues, it will become an alarming sign, but for now, researchers hope next year will be a better year for sea turtles.