Sea Turtles Need To Dress Warmer To Survive
- Sanjna Farma
- Mar 22, 2023
- 3 min read
By: Sanjna Farma
Have you ever thought about what a world without sea turtles would look like? Unfortunately, this thought may become reality at the rate that the sea turtle populations are declining. It is said that warmer temperatures usually cause more female sea turtle production and cooler temperatures cause more male sea turtle production. This fact provoked Ellen Porter from the University of Queensland, Australia and her team to conduct research aimed at understanding how temperature influences the sex ratio of sea turtles and determining whether skewed sex ratios due to climate change have been driving declines in sea turtle populations over the past few years. The researchers conducted an experimental study in order to determine the effects of short-term temperature drops on the sex determination of sea turtle embryos. These short-term temperature drops mimic the weather pattern that can occur in their natural habitats due to climate change and tend to occur after heavy rainfalls that occur in their environment. Is climate change the reason why the sea turtle population is declining?
The recently published article “influence of short-term temperature drops on sex-determination in sea turtles” by Porter and her team investigates the relationship between short-term temperature drops and sex determination and how this relationship leads to a decline in the sea turtle population. Indirectly the researchers are also trying to find a link between climate change and a declining sea turtle population.
To understand how temperature influences the sex ratios of sea turtles, the researchers first collected loggerhead turtle eggs from Mono Repos beach on the east coast of Australia and green sea turtle eggs from Queensland Government Park and Wildlife Service. Then, they placed these eggs in incubators during their sex-determining period (SDP), which is the period during development when external factors can influence the sex of the hatchlings. During the SDP, the researchers exposed the eggs to short-term temperature drops in rooms which started at a constant temperature of 30°C. The researchers dropped the incubation temperature to 26.5°C over three to seven days. This was done to mimic the weather pattern that occurs in the turtle’s natural habitats due to climate change. In order to determine what the sex of the hatchlings was after the SDP the researchers used a gonad (reproductive organs) dissection and histology (microscopic study of tissues). Although this is a good method to use for the experiment it requires euthanasia, which adds to the pre-existing declining population of sea turtles. In order to prevent euthanasia the researchers suggested another method called blood sampling which can be explored further in future experimental studies.
After the study was conducted, the researchers analyzed the results and found that brief temperature drops of 3-4°C caused a significant increase in the proportion of male hatchlings. This suggests that these short-term temperature drops are a very big and important contributing factor to the skewed sex ratios that have been observed within the sea turtle populations. This being said, these skewed sex ratios impact the fitness (reproductivity) of the species. If the weather continues to vary due to climate change causing more intense and frequent rainfalls in the sea turtles’ habitats, the weather will stay cold more often. This consistency of cold weather will lead to more male sea turtles and fewer female sea turtles being born, ultimately resulting in a decline in the sea turtle population.
So why is this important? Why should we care if the sea turtle population is declining and what does this have to do with the general public? Human activity is a big contributing factor to the sea turtles populations declining since it plays a significant role in climate change. Things such as deforestation, industrial processes and agriculture all play a role in contributing to climate change. By creating awareness of the detrimental effects that human activity is having on the sea turtle population we can create change by cutting down on harmful activities in order to save the turtles!
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