Sea Turtles and Climate Change
"Hot chicks, cool dudes," is the saying that helps us remember that warmer temperatures are likely to produce more females in a nest of reptile eggs. Anjani Ganase, marine scientist, considers the conservation of sea turtles in the face of changing climate. (First published in Tobago Newsday, January 18, 2018) Although my career as a marine scientist is still in its infancy, I have managed to witness substantial declines in coral reef ecosystems over the past ten years. While surveying some of these reefs frequented by other megafauna, such as manta rays and turtles, it made me wonder how these long-lived ocean residents, dependent on these ecosystems, were dealing with the rapid changes that have been occurring over the last thirty years. Sea turtles in particular, are an ancient species living in the present-day marine world. They have been around for about 100 million years (humans have only been here for about 200,000 years), having survived the last ma...