From Med's biggest nesting ground, turtles swim to uncertain future

OCTOBER 9, 2019

by John Hadoulis

Freed from its eggshell by a volunteer, the tiny turtle hatchling clambers across a pebble-strewn sandy Greek beach in a race to the sea, the start of a hazardous journey that only one in 1,000 will survive.

Kira Schirrmacher, 22, donning black gloves to gently ease the newborn loggerhead turtle on its way, grins at suggestions that she's a kind of "midwife".

"Yes, I do that all day," says the German social sciences student, of her role.

She's one of several volunteers monitoring the beaches of Kyparissia Bay, the Mediterranean's largest nesting ground for the loggerhead, whose scientific name is Caretta caretta.

Tourism, climate change and good fortune all weigh on the future of the loggerhead population, which the International Union for Conservation of Nature lists as vulnerable.

Even sun loungers on the beach that can snag the turtles and bright lights that lure the hatchlings away from the water at night are potential threats, say environmentalists.

Growing in the Med

Their overall numbers are unknown but some Pacific and Indian Ocean populations are critically low, while conservation measures have bolstered their presence in the Mediterranean, environmental groups say.

With around 44 kilometres (27 miles) of coastline, Kyparissia on the western Peloponnese, had over 3,700 nests this year, up from 3,500 in 2018, says the Athens-based Archelon turtle protection organisation.

Continued

Very Rare Turtles Hatch in NYC

The Wildlife Conservation Society's (WCS) Bronx Zoo in New York has welcomed five extremely rare Chinese yellow-headed box turtles.

The hatching marks a significant population boost for the species, since there are only estimated to be 150 left in the wild. Chinese yellow-headed box turtles once flourished in streams in parts of eastern China, but have been pushed to the brink of extinction by human consumption, use in traditional medicine, habitat loss and the pet trade, according to the WCS.

Zoo officials say they had to set the mood to get the rare turtles to breed, which involved creating specific environmental and climate conditions.

Continued:  http://www.livescience.com/25621-very-rare-turtles-hatch-in-nyc.html

Men hatch Swedish chicks from organic eggs

Lucas and Lars Lund from Hällnäs, near Umeå in northern Sweden, bought a carton of 24 eggs from their local Coop supermarket, the local Västerbottens-Kuriren (VK) newspaper reported.

"It's really exciting for us. It all started as a hobby, and when I read online that organic eggs could yield chicks, I knew I had to buy an incubator," Lucas Lund told The Local.

“I bought the freshest eggs in the store, then I came straight home and put them in the incubator.”

After a time in the incubator, the Lunds saw a surprising result as the eggs started to crack.


“We have a total of five now and they are as cute as anything. And we think there's another one on the way,” Lund said.

Of the 24 eggs purchased, Lund claims that 10 were fertilized.

“There is already a small crack in one of the other eggs, so we’re expecting another one very soon,” he said.

Lund explained that the little chicks must stay in the incubators for a while after birth, but that four have already "moved out" to their own patch.

"We'll be doing the same thing next year when the chickens have matured," he told The Local

Lund confessed that he and his brother tried the same experiment last year, however, this resulted in “just one crazy cock”.

Oliver Gee



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A lonely birth - Millions of Olive Ridley hatchlings head out to sea sans mothers – via Herp Digest

POST NOON (Hyderabad, India) 5/8/12 -Kendrapara: Emergence of millions of baby Olive Ridley marine turtles along the tranquil Gahirmatha beach has brought cheer to conservationists here.

Wildlife lovers are elated as hatchlings broke out of eggshells and crawled towards their seaward journey in the nesting grounds at Nasi Island.

About 1.68 lakh turtles had arrived at Nasi-2 nesting ground from March 20 to March 28 to lay eggs on the sandy beach.

“Since Saturday night, newborn babies are emerging with mother turtles nowhere in sight. Nasi-2 Island is teeming with baby turtles and wildlife officials of Bhitarkanika National Park stationed at these nesting grounds are the sole witness to this unique natural heritage involving the birth of babies sans mother”, forest officials said.

Tourists and researchers were denied entry to witness it as the unmanned islands are located in close vicinity of Wheeler’s island defence test range centre, a prohibited territory.

“Emergence of hatchlings fr­om egg shells is expected to continue at least for a week. The 1 km beach is virtually littered with newly born hatchlings. The babies are literally jostling for space to move around before the­ir plunge into seawater,” Ma­noj Ku­mar Mahapatra, Divisional Fo­rest Officer, Rajnagar Man­grove (wildlife) Forest Division, said.

The babies broke out of the shackles of eggshells and wandered aimlessly around the sandy beach for nearly an hour before making their way to seawater, he said.

“Nearly two million hatchlings have emerged out of pits since past 24 hours. The process of turtle birth is expected to continue for few more days,” the DFO said.

Turtles 'communicate with each other before hatching'

Scientists believe baby turtles can communicate with each other before they hatch and can arrange to emerge from their eggs at the same time.

A study of Australia's Murray short-necked turtle found the embryos synchronised their hatching to prevent smaller turtles emerging alone and being attacked by predators such as goannas and foxes.

It is believed the unhatched turtles, which lie enclosed in a tight nest, may be able to sense each other's heart vibrations or may detect gases emitted from the breath of other turtles. In this way, more developed turtles can send signals on their growth status to less developed ones to encourage them to increase their growth rates.

"I am pretty sure they're not sitting there chatting to each other but no one really knows," said Dr Ricky Spencer, a co-author of the new study.

The researchers, from the University of Western Study, said that embryos positioned at the bottom of the nest – where temperatures are lower – have a "catch-up mechanism" which enables them to overcome their longer incubation periods. However, the precise nature of the mechanism remains unknown.

"They might be cueing in on heart rates," Dr Spencer told ABC Radio. "They are all touching each other within the nests so there might be vibrations there. A nest environment is pretty much an enclosed cavity where gas exchange might be a cue as well ... They breathe, so if you get increases in carbon dioxide within a nest they might be cueing on in that."

The researchers studied the turtles by dividing a clutch of eggs into two and incubating them at different temperature levels. They then united the eggs after a week and analysed the embryonic heart rates and metabolic rates. During the last third of the incubation period, the cooler embryos had sped up their heart rate and metabolism and hatched within a couple of days of the warmer ones.

"They increased their developmental rate essentially independent of temperature [and] that allowed them to hatch earlier," Dr Spencer said.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8925107/Turtles-communicate-with-each-other-before-hatching.html