Here you see what is a luxury summer resort for some. Oh, it’s not in Bali, Bora Bora, or the Maldives, and guests don’t get massages here or sip piña coladas while discussing gold futures.
But it is here that some of the most well-off painted turtles appear every year to loll about in the sun and sample the latest insect hors-d’oeuvres:
Lamentably, painted turtles and people tourists share a significant danger: the effects of higher temperatures brought about by climate change. You probably know about the people’s problems, but I wonder if you’re aware of the turtles’ special problem.
The sex of painted turtles (and some other reptiles) is determined by the temperature of their eggs before they hatch. The warmer the PT egg nest, the greater the number of eggs that will grow into females. Researchers at Iowa State University have done tests that indicate that, if the present rising temperatures continue as predicted, we’ll soon likely come to a tipping point at which all painted turtle eggs naturally must become female or fail to hatch.
That would mean extinction unless there is human intervention or a miracle. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on June 11, 2024.)