MELBOURNE BEACH, Fla. — The warm Florida climate may be a huge draw for many people, but the sustained heat is putting the sea turtle population at risk, experts say.
- Experts: Fewer males being born due to warming trend
- Sex of sea turtles is determined by temperature of nest
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They've survived for millions of years, but as Sarah Rhodes-Ondi of the Sea Turtle Conservancy in Brevard County explains, the reptiles have had a rough year.
"(Hurricane) Dorian came through, and we lost nearly 9,000 nests. All those big waves and all that wind was driving what we call a "washback" (to shore), (when they don't) really know what to do at that point,” Rhodes-Ondi says.
As the climate gets hotter, Rhodes-Ondi says the warmth creates a sex imbalance among the reptiles, because their sex is determined by their environment.
In a few decades, there may not be enough males, Rhodes-Ondi says.
"Their sex is not determined by X and Y chromosomes. What actually determines their gender is the temperature of the nest. The last three years, we've pretty much been hatching females,” she says.
Experts say if the nest temperature is around 81 degrees or less, the nest will be mostly males. The ideal temperature for mixed-gender nests is around 85 degrees. And if it's above 87 degrees, the nest will be mostly females.
If the trend continues, it will not be sustainable to the population, even though males are polyamorous. It's estimated that 1 in 1,000 hatchings survive into adulthood. Along with natural predators, fisheries and trash are making it harder for sea turtles to survive.
"This happened before; they've been through multiple Ice Ages and survived. ... Our hope is the species will adapt. The question with our warming beaches is that it's happening too fast. Is this time too fast for turtles to adapt?" Rhodes-Ondi said.
Sea turtle nesting season ends at the end of the month in Brevard County.