Dead Turtle Hatchlings Piling Up; Sand Temps At Biggest Loggerhead Nest Site Hit 75C
Piles of dead turtle hatchlings are lining Queensland's famous Mon Repos beach amid a heatwave which has pushed the sand's temperature to a record 75 degrees Celsius. While the majority of hatchlings break free from their nests at night when the sand is cooler, those escaping in the day face overheating.
"They can't sweat, they can't pant, so they've got no mechanism for cooling," Department of Environment and Heritage Protection chief scientist Dr Col Limpus said. "If they encounter very hot sand they just simply heat up.
"They slow down and that's the end for them. You really only have probably an hour or so in those really hot sands and it's terminal."
The extreme heat is also conducted down to the turtle's nest, pushing the temperature to about 34C, which is approaching the lethal level for incubation. That is the hottest temperature recorded in a nest in more than a decade.
EDIT
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-04/mon-repos-turtles-hurting-in-heatwave-qld/8230036