Learning About Leatherbacks In South Africa
Endangered leatherback turtles are being
"hammered" worldwide with massive reductions of up to 90 percent in
some populations, but South Africa's conservation efforts appear to be
paying off and the local leatherback populations are stable.
While they are stable they are, however, not growing, unlike the local
loggerhead turtles whose nesting populations have "rocketed", according
to marine scientist Ronel Nel of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan
University.
Nel's research is trying to find out why. One of the reasons could be
an imbalance of the leatherback sex ratio. Normally a population would
have around a 50:50 ratio between males and females, but an analysis of
leatherbacks trapped in shark nets off the coast of KwaZulu-Natal
suggests that their sex ration is in fact two males to one female.
Nel said generally the temperature of the sand in which the eggs were incubated determined the sex of the turtle, with cooler temperatures producing males and warmer temperatures producing females.
