CLEARWATER, Fla. — If it's a battle of the sexes, the female sea turtles are winning.
"We are seeing an increase in terms of the female hatchlings compared to her male hatchlings," said Clearwater Marine Aquarium Veterinarian Shelly Marquardt.
She said it's all because of the weather.
"For sea turtle hatchlings, their sex is actually determined by the temperature of the sand. So the warmer the temperatures, you're going to get female eggs, the colder the temperatures, you get male, the eggs."
In July, Tampa Bay averaged 86 degrees, according to The National Weather Service. It's a continuing trend of rising temperatures.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said if a turtle's eggs incubate below 81.8 degrees it'll be born male. Above that temperature, it will be female. All of this takes place during the hottest months.
"Usually for us we're seeing our hatchlings from about July to probably about end of October," said Marquardt.
The skewed sexes of sea turtles is one example of rising temperature averages. University of South Florida Professor Feng Hao said the warmer weather is all because of our energy sources.
"We consume a large amount of fossil fuels to support our economy and because we produce a large amount of CO2 emissions. Those CO2 emissions cause climate change and then we have the warmer weather," said Hao.
Hao said warmer weather is just one example. Climate change can lead to more extreme weather events, like severe flooding and hurricanes. But there are ways to reduce those chances.
"We can reduce our consumption of fossil fuels, we can kind of re-orient to the renewable energy. Solar, wind, that can support our energy demand but also reduce the carbon dioxide emissions," he said.
As for the sea turtles, there are studies happening now to determine the impact of more female turtles than males. But we won't get answers quickly. The good news is for now; it's not posing a threat to the population.
"Really time is going to tell. Definitely since only one in 1000 sea turtles make it. We don't necessarily need there to be an equal distribution of these animals, we just need there to be an appropriate amount for breeding. And so honestly, you can make the argument that females, you know, more females are beneficial for, you know, increased nesting," said Marquardt.
