Researchers fear hotter temperatures threaten sea turtles

By Maria Hatzakis
Posted Fri Feb 27, 2009 9:00am AEDT

Marine researchers monitoring green sea turtle hatchlings at Heron Island off Gladstone in central Queensland say hot weather could see the threatened species become extinct.

A zoologist from the University of Queensland says scientists have been examining how soaring temperatures have been affecting the turtles for the past three years.

Dr David Booth says this year's hatchlings are at a greater risk of being eaten because they are slower swimmers.

"One of the biggest dangers to the turtles is when they're swimming across the reef flat just escaping the island into deeper water and predation rates are very, very high because of the high density of fish there," he said.

"The predation rate directly depends on their swimming ability - the slower swimmers have a bigger chance of being eaten, so if you're a slower swimmer there's less chance of you making it across that first threshold of life."

Dr Booth says the turtle's sex is also determined by temperature and warmer weather produces females.

He says the species would be further threatened if there are not enough males to fertilise the females.

"In the end turtles will have to find other nesting areas to be more successful because of the increase in temperature," he said.

"It should be noted that sea turtles have been around in their present form for million of years and have experienced temperature changes and have been able to shift their location of nesting beaches.

"However, that's been done over tens of thousands of years not in tens of years, which will have to happen now."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/02/27/2502760.htm