Rising Temperatures Put Sea Turtles at Risk
Sea turtles are said to be one of Earth’s most ancient creatures and the seven species that can be found today have been around for roughly 110 million years, which dates back to when dinosaurs ruled the planet. Their unique shell allows for easy movement through the water and unlike other turtles, sea turtles cannot retract their legs and head into their shells (“Sea Turtle Migration”, 2013). Depending on the species of sea turtle, their diet tends to consist of smaller sea life such as jellyfish, seaweed, crabs, shrimp, sponges, snails and algae. It is also interesting to note that green sea turtles can stay under water for as long as five hours even though the length of a feeding is usually five minutes or less. Their heart rate slows to conserve oxygen and nine minutes may elapse between heartbeats (“Sea Turtle Migration”, 2013). It is often quite difficult to gauge the total population count for sea turtles because both male and juvenile sea turtles do not return to shore once they hatch and reach the ocean, which makes it extremely difficult to keep track of numbers (“Sea Turtle Migration”, 2013). Most of the behavioral information that has been gathered on sea turtles is based off of females and their hatchlings. When females come to shore to lay their eggs they dig out a hole, bury their clutch of eggs and then return to the ocean. The eggs are left unattended to hatch and make their way back to the ocean, which is where they will remain, solitary, until it is time for them to mate (“Sea Turtle Migration”, 2013). Another interesting fact about sea turtles is that the temperate of the sand determines the sex of the turtle. Sand below 85 degrees Fahrenheit will yield predominately male hatchlings and sand above 85 degrees Fahrenheit will yield predominately female hatchlings. If temperatures continue to rise, warming the sand, scientists predict that there will be more female than male hatchlings (Velasquez-Manoff, 2007). “In order to maintain a viable breeding population, a cool, male-producing year has to come at least once every five to ten years, if male years begin to come only every twenty years because of climate change, the sea turtle could become extinct”, says Spotila (2013), a professor of environmental science at Drexel University. Sea turtles are known to imprint on the beach where they hatch and later return to that site decades later to repeat their ancient nesting ritual. With rising temperatures comes melting of the polar ice caps and rising sea levels, causing these beaches to slowly disappear (“Sea Turtle Migration”, 2013). Genetic studies of sea turtle colonies suggest that sea turtles will not be able to adapt to rapidly rising tides, it may take ten thousand years for new turtle nesting sites to become established (“Sea Turtle Migration”, 2013). Global warming will also increase water temperatures, changing the ocean currents that are critical to migrating turtles, especially baby hatchlings that are mostly transported by the currents into the open ocean (“Sea Turtle Migration”, 2013). Sea turtles are found in all warm and temperate waters throughout the world and tend to migrate hundreds of miles between nesting and feeding grounds. Most sea turtles undergo long migrations, some as far as fourteen thousand miles, between their feeding grounds and the beaches where they nest (“Sea Turtle Migration”, 2013). Leatherback sea turtles are among the most highly migratory animals on earth, traveling as many as ten thousand miles or more each year in search of jellyfish (“Sea Turtles”, 2013). Adult feeding patterns are affected by the climate change in such a way that grass beds are in decline, water temperature is higher on intertidal sea grass flats and coral reefs, typically feeding grounds for green turtles, are affected by bleaching (“Sea Turtles”, 2013). Not only does most of the marine life depend on coral reefs, but humans depend on them too. Corals support the fish eaten by over a billion people worldwide (“Sea Turtles”, 2013). Warmer water temperatures brought on by climate change ultimately stresses corals because they are extremely sensitive to changes in temperature which ultimately has a direct effect on turtle feeding grounds. If water temperatures stay higher than usual for many weeks, the zooxanthellae they depend on for some of their food leave their tissue (“Coral Reefs”, 2013). Zooxanthellae are organisms that are most often found as plankton which provide food as products of photosynthesis to reef building coral; they also give corals their color (“Coral Reefs”, 2013). When zooxanthellae are missing the corals turn white which in turn are referred to as bleached. Bleached corals are weak and less able to combat disease, as climate change continues, bleaching will become more common and the overall health of coral reefs will decline, causing a decline in food sources for most of our marine life. In order to protect our environment and its habitants, we must put forth an effort to reduce global warming. On an individual level we can partake in reducing, reusing and recycling and generally reducing our consumption of natural resources, most of which are produced and transported by burning fossil fuels (“Sea Turtle Migration”, 2013). Possibly the most vital step in protecting our sea turtles is to protect turtle nesting grounds and areas that may be suitable for turtle nesting in the future to ensure that marine reptiles have a better chance of withstanding climate change (Fuentes, 2013). A normal egg clutch from a female sea turtle contains between seventy to one hundred and ninety eggs depending on the species. Once the young hatch from their eggs, they slowly make their way to the ocean where only few survive to adulthood (“Sea Turtle Migration”, 2013). Often times during sea turtle breeding season you will see roped off sections on the beach where a turtle nest has been identified. These barriers are created to inform humans to stay away from these sensitive locations. We must work together to not only protect the endangered sea turtles but also to protect the rest of our environment and its habitants from global warming and climate change. “Turtles have existed for millions of years and were here long before humans. It would be a complete tragedy if they were to become extinct as a result of our actions and our lack of care” (Fuentes, 2013).
References

Fuentes, M. (2013, February 19). Nesting site protection 'key to save turtles from climate change'. Retrieved October 1, 2013, from http://www.coralcoe.org.au/news/nesting-site-protection-key-to-save-turtles-from-climate-change
Coral reefs and climate change (2013). Retrieved October 1, 2013, from http://www.teachoceanscience.net/teaching_resources/education_modules/coral_reefs_and_climate_change/how_does_climate_change_affect_coral_reefs/
Sea turtle migration (2013). Retrieved October 1, 2013, from http://www.seeturtles.org/1895/sea-turtle-migration.html
Velasquez-Manoff, M. (2007, June 21). Climate turns up heat on sea turtles. The Christian Science Monitor, Retrieved from http://www.csmonitor.com/layout/set/print/2007/0621/p25s03-setn.html
Sea turtles: Basic facts about sea turtles (2013). Retrieved October 1, 2013, from https://www.defenders.org/sea-turtles/basic-facts