Concentrate
on PR[purple], W[green], C[orange]
It
was 50 days ago that I laid my eggs. I waddled up this very beach with a heavy belly,
carrying the future of sea turtles. Even though I traveled very far from this
beach, I felt a magnetic attraction, calling me back to this coast. My legs work through the toughness
of the sand; I slowly trek until I reach the final destination.
Anticipation fills every being in my body. It could be any second that my eggs
hatch.[BJF1] In the oblivion of my excitement I have failed to realize one
thing- my nest is surrounded by humans. In a sudden burst- Crack,
crack, crack- shells break. I look into my nest, and a closed eyed
turtle starts slowly braking the rest of its shell, its flippers slowly make
their way out, followed by the rest of their body.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRrJ2B1nLzM
As I walk up to approach my new child, I am thrown back. A giant
hand swooshes down and takes my child from me. I panic, I run over the
rest of the turtles, protecting them as best as I can. But, hands
keep swooping down. I start to shake; I retreat my head back into my
shell hoping to come up with a plan. I cannot think, anger and fear for
the life of my children riddle my every thought. Humans ruin everything. I pop
my head out, my motherly instinct sinks in; I must get my kids to the
ocean before they are harmed. I Look up
and to my surprise, the humans have disappeared and left the newly hatched
turtles back on the sand. A wave of relief enables me to move again to confront my
new children.
There they stand in the sand- fresh eyed and small. I direct them
to the sea[BJF2] , all 100 of them. One by one, they slowly wade
through the sand in a frantic squirm. We reach the water, gradually Deeping ourselves into the water. I look
behind me to make sure they are all following. Needing no instructions, they
take their first swim. The
movement of their gait is slow and awkward; we eventually
make it deep into the ocean. I wonder what is going through their minds, everything
is new. <GOOD DETAIL
One
sea turtle chirps, which
is accompanied by 60 other chirps. I look at
them to analyze what they need and I realize something strange- all my children are girls. Out of my 100 children, absolute none of them are boys. This is exactly
the situation I have feared my whole life. It took me twenty years to find a mate and breed. Not
because I am unwanted, but because it took me twenty years to find a male
partner. Everywhere I traveled, I was greeted with female
friendships. It was rare to encounter a male. All of my friends have had the
same struggle, most of them got too old to breed by the time they found a
mating partner. I was considered lucky. The ocean has progressively become
dominated by females. None of us know how, but some have guessed due to the
warming of the water, or the sands. I look at my children with extreme grief,
most of them will not be able to mate; they will never feel the joy of birthing
a new generation. They are destined for an isolated future, eventually dying alone without family.
As
I stare at my children, I realize I have been selfish. This whole time I am
worrying about the livelihood of my children, completely ignoring the
generations of sea turtles to come. Most of my friends who have bred, have had
similar results as me. If this continues to be a pattern, my species
will vanish. The thought lays a huge weight on me; I know there needs to be a
change, but I donÕt know how. I have no power; female sea turtles do not have enough
influence to change their whole species. Knowing the future is doomed, I swim
ahead with my children, leading them into a bleak and dead future.
As
the sea turtle predicted, a dead future is the current destiny for the sea
turtle population. Just as in the story, female sea turtles are becoming more
prevalent than their male counterparts due to global warming. The effects of
having female turtles wholly outnumber the male population will destroy the sea turtle
population. Since sea turtles are both land and sea creatures, the effects
of climate change impact them tremendously.
[BJF3] The increasing beach temperatures impacts
sea turtle nesting. Unlike humans, sea turtles do not have an X and a Y
chromosome, their sex is determined by embryotic development and can
easily be affected by environmental factors. 1
Typically, the eggs in the lower, cooler, part of the nest will become males,
while the eggs in the upper, warmer, part of the nest will become female. With
the increasing temperatures, scientists predict that there will be more females
than males, threatening the genetic diversity of the species. 2
The loss of genetic diversity is not a hit that the sea turtle
species can take. For example, Loggerhead sea turtles already have
to nest Òfor more than 10 nesting seasons over 20 to 30
years just to replace herself and possibly one mateÓ. It is already extremely difficult
for sea turtles to repopulate their current population. If the temperatures
continue to rise, the sex ratios of the sea turtles and their ability to
reproduce will be dramatically impacted. 1<DOC
A skewed sex ratio is not the only problem affecting sea turtles
due to climate change, the rising sea levels are also destroying nesting beaches. As the sea
levels rise, beaches start to disappear. As national geographic
points out, ÒItÕs hard enough for turtles to find suitable egg-laying beaches
now, as real-estate development spreads along coastlines, let alone in a future
when seas may be several feet higherÓ. 5
Sea turtles cannot easily pick a new beach to hatch their eggs. Sea turtleÕs
memories are ÒimprintedÓ with a magnetic map of where they hatch. That way,
they are able to return to the same beach decades later and ÒRepeat their
ancient nesting ritual.Ó 2 Therefore, if the temperature continues to increase and
if sea level continues to rise, sea turtles will also lose nesting grounds,
eventually diminishing their population.
As
if the changing sex rations and limited nesting grounds werenÕt enough, warmer
ocean temperatures are also negatively impacting major food resources for sea
turtles. Coral reefs are a major source, and they are also dying out. Because of the higher temperatures, coral
reefs are suffering from a ÒbleachingÓ effect, Òexpelling the colorful algae
that live within them,Ó and eventually killing off parts of the reef. 6 Bleaching events are on the rise, effectively dwindling
the food available to sea turtles.
Turtles
will not be the only ones affected by the
rising sea turtles. <EGREGIOUS ERROR Nearly half
of the human population lives within 200 km of coasts 3 .
The livelihood and ^^^ economy
of many cities is determined by fishing and tourism. At the current rate of sea
level rise of 2 mm a year, by 2100 many major cities like New York,
London, and Shanghai could have extreme flooding, beaches and coastal
lands could be destroyed. 4
In order to reverse the current ill-fated future of sea
turtles, there needs to
be a change. Sea Turtles cannot change their fate, but humans can. Simple
steps like purchasing energy efficient appliances, reducing waste, and making
smarter choices when it comes to transportation, can create a positive
impact on temperature and the environment. If anything, knowledge
is power. Spread the word on the problems the sea turtles and the globe are
facing; Òcollective influence can force change.Ó 2
Word
count: 1458
Without
quotes: 1411
Works Cited
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRrJ2B1nLzM <DOC: WHEN
ACCESSED?
Turtle
in Hand: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/18/sea-turtle-facts_n_5505508.html
Turtles
swimming: http://blog.conservation.org/2012/02/ci-photojournal-the-turtle-islands-part-2-of-3/
Turtles
Mating: http://mpo.photoshelter.com/image/I0000dOcHWiK61XA
Turtle
drawing: http://www.clipartpanda.com/categories/sea-turtle-clipart-black-and-white
Sea
turtle: http://www.lizasreef.com/HOPE%20FOR%20THE%20OCEANS/sea_turtles.htm
Flooded
beach: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6254
Coral
reef bleaching: http://www.climatechangenews.com/2015/10/08/warming-seas-devastate-coral-reefs-in-global-bleaching-event/
Reduce,
reuse, recycle: http://www.tvwatershed.org/reduce-reuse-recycle/