Smelly seaweed is snaring hatchling sea turtles on their way to the ocean
The new hurdle baby sea turtles face on dangerous trek to ocean
- Smelly, brown sargassum seaweed accumulating on Florida beaches is trapping baby sea turtles, making them vulnerable to predators, dehydration, and exhaustion.
- Researchers at Florida Atlantic University found that sargassum piles significantly reduce the crawl speed of hatchlings, particularly loggerheads, and can cause them to flip over.
- Flipping over extends the time hatchlings spend on the beach, increasing their exposure to predators and extreme heat, though blood samples showed no significant energy depletion.
- The problem is worsened by increasingly frequent and massive sargassum blooms, with 31 million metric tons recorded this year, coinciding with the summer hatching season for Florida's endangered sea turtle species.
- Scientists warn that growing seaweed accumulations risk entirely blocking hatchlings, depleting their limited energy, stranding them, and potentially impacting nesting sites and incubation conditions.