MARATHON, Fla. : Florida's sea turtles are grappling with a gender imbalance made worse by climate change. Recent heat waves have caused the sand on some beaches to get so hot that nearly every turtle born was female.
"Scientists that are studying sea turtle hatchlings and eggs have found no boy sea turtles, so only female sea turtles for the past four years," Zirkelbach said, whose turtle centrehas operated since 1986. Instead of determining sex during fertilization, the sex of sea turtles and alligators depends on the temperature of developing eggs, according to the National Oceanographic Atmospheric Administration .
"Over the years, you're going to see a sharp decline in their population because we just don't have the genetic diversity," said Melissa Rosales Rodriguez, a sea turtle keeper at the recently opened a turtle hospital at the Miami Zoo."We don't have the male-to-female ratio needed in order to be able to have successful breeding sessions."