Like much of the southeast, we've been having blistering heat in the Panhandle of Florida. After sea turtle patrols we always wash down our UTVs, but yesterday I nearly scalded my feet when I started by hosing the sand off my feet before testing the water temperature. OUCH!
This period of intense heat may come with a silver lining, however, and all my younger blog followers who've been out on the beach with me or correspond with me know this tidbit of sea turtle trivia: The sex of sea turtle hatchlings are determined by the temperature of the sand during incubation. We remember how temperature affects the outcome by the phrase "Hot Chicks/Cool Dudes".
Our nests appear to be hatching at a faster rate due to the heat: i.e. one of our Pensacola Beach nests which was being excavated and relocated to Cape Canaveral/NASA already had hatchlings and pipped eggs at 53 days instead of 60. That may mean our female to male hatchling ratio this season is going to be increased.
Out of seven species of sea turtles, Loggerheads are the only ones listed as threatened and they are what we see the most of in the Panhandle of Florida. Occasionally, however, we have nests of Green sea turtles (endangered) and Kemp's ridleys (critically endangered) To learn more about them and see a photograph of each species, you may click HERE.
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2 comments:
Thanks,again, for taking the time to write. I enjoy reading your posts!
I was fishing around Boca Grande Pass on Sunday and the water had to have been in the low 90s.
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