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In Conservation

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A turtley awesome job: career insight from Sea Turtle Inc.’s Khrystyne Jamerson

What we do know is that sea turtles—even at diminished population levels—play an important role in ocean ecosystems by maintaining healthy seagrass beds and coral reefs, providing key habitat for other marine life, helping to balance marine food webs and facilitating nutrient cycling from water to land. :)

Baby sea turtles face a famous gauntlet. The little reptiles are vulnerable to predators, poachers, fishing gear and plastics. And now with climate change, there’s one more hurdle on that list: unusually hot sand.

Scorching sand heats up turtle nests, which are buried in pits on beaches. Those elevated temperatures can cook developing embryos. “In some places the nests are getting so hot that there’s no survival,” says marine biologist Kristin Mazzarella of Mote Marine Lab in Sarasota, Florida. “The eggs don't hatch.”

In the short term, most turtle species can cope with a little extra warmth. But in the long game, overheating nests could be a serious burn for these ancient ocean reptiles.

Baby sea turtles emerge from their nests and dash for the ocean. Warmer beaches could cook eggs and hatchlings.

Warmer temperatures also bring reduced hatchling success, more deformities, and, above about 91 degrees Fahrenheit (33 degrees Celsius), the eggs die.

Installing shady areas on the beach, replanting vegetation along beach edges, or relocating eggs to cooler places are all possible strategies for protecting eggs from overheating.

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