Rising seas could drown turtle eggs, according to new research

FLINTUS

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Obviously there would be hypoxia by 'drowning' an egg, however, I really fail to see how this is exactly linked to rising sea levels. Turtles won't lay on a flooded beach surely??? and it's not like there's going to be dramatic sea level rises covering the beach while they are incubating. The bigger threat surely from sea levels is the erosion and floding(in the long term) of the wide beaches they lay on, thereby creating a lack of nesting sites. Additionally, one could perhaps suggest that with an increased chance of storm surges, you might get the occasional event like described in the article, but that would be a very unusual occurence.
 

Tidgy's Dad

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Thanks, Ken.
It appears that most turtles lay eggs above the high tide line anyway, so only weak or late or old or inexperienced turtles lay eggs further down the beach.
This sounds like nature to me, survival of the fittest.
Sea level rises and drops have occurred hundreds of times since turtles evolved and they have survived through major dry spells and ice ages.
I think this is the least of their problems.
 
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