August 12, 2019 06:00 AM,Updated August 12, 2019 11:08 PM
Research collaboration helps turtle conservation
Dr. Jeanette Wyneken researches marine turtles at the FAU Marine Laboratory in Boca Raton. Among other things, rising temperatures are the biggest threat to the health and survival of imperiled species of marine turtles.
By Jennifer King
Two dozen tiny leatherback turtles swam around in small tanks, attached by fishing lines to a system that kept them from hitting walls and hurting themselves. As an open-water species, leatherbacks don’t recognize barriers, so they are kept on leashes at Florida Atlantic University’s lab at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton.It was lunchtime and professor Jeanette Wyneken was feeding them a concoction she perfected over the years: organic gelatin, fish oil, protein and vitamins, shaped into little squares. Leatherbacks are picky eaters, feeding mostly on jellyfish.
Wyneken planned to fatten the baby turtles for a few weeks, until they are about the size of her palm and can undergo a laparoscopy to check their otherwise imperceptible gender — a process that requires inserting a tiny camera to view internal organs. Dozens of hatchlings will go through Wyneken’s lab this nesting season as part of her long-running turtle sex-ratio research in South Florida.
Yet even before any testing is done and the hatchlings are released back into the ocean, the scientist already knows there is a strong chance most of the turtles will be one gender: female.
As is the case with some reptiles, the sex of sea turtles is determined by the temperature of the sand where the eggs incubate. With climate change turning up the heat in South Florida, producing longer and hotter summers, sea turtle gender balance is being thrown way out of whack.
“It’s scary,’’ said Wyneken. “I’m seeing more and more all-female nests, and even when we have males, it’s a very small percentage.’’
Climate change is turning Florida’s sea turtles female. Will they run out of males? | Miami He rald
August 12, 2019 06:00 AM,Updated August 12, 2019 11:08 PM Research collaboration helps turtle conservation Dr. Jeanette Wyneken researches marine turtles at the FAU Marine Laboratory in Boca Raton. Among other things, rising temperatures are the biggest threat to the health and survival of imperiled species of marine turtles. By Jennifer King Two dozen tiny… [Read More]
