Rolling Stone USA - 04.2020

ROLLING STONE 79

GREEN SEA TURTLE

The ringed seal’s entire
life cycle is tied to the
Arctic ice: They mate
under it, give birth
on top of it, and dig
caves in the snow on
its surface to keep their
young warm. As Arctic
temperatures rise, the
decrease in snowfall
has made digging those
caves impossible in
some places. And the
shortened life span
of ice sheets — which
are forming later and

melting earlier every

year — is forcing seal

pups into the ocean

before they’re mature,

making them especially

vulnerable to predators.

A 2004 study project-

ed that more than 80

percent of the seals’

ice in the Baltic Sea

would be gone by 2100.

In 2012, in an effort to

protect that habitat,

ringed seals were listed

as threatened under the

Endangered Species

Act. As they struggle, so

too will their fellow ice

dwellers — and primary

predator — polar bears.

“We’re maybe not see-

ing population declines

immediately, but we

know with certainty it

is going to happen,”

says Nikhil Advani of the

World Wildlife Federa-

tion. “For ice-dependent

species like polar bears

and ice seals, they’re

basically facing a total

loss of habitat.”

Gentle giants that can

clock in at 700 pounds,

green sea turtles cross

entire oceans to reach

their preferred nesting

beaches, where they

bury their eggs in coast-

al sandy pits. But strong

storms can destroy the

nests, and rising seas

threaten to erase beach-

es altogether, a problem

compounded by fancy

hotels and waterfront

vacation homes.

“Beaches everywhere

are constrained by de-

velopment,” says Aimee

Delach, policy analyst

at Defenders of Wildlife.

“[Turtles] can’t migrate

inshore.” On the U.S.

endangered species list

since 2016, these turtles

face another dilemma.

The temperature of the

nesting site decides the

sex of their hatchlings

— the hotter it is, the

more babies are born

female. A 2018 study on

Australia’s Great Barrier

Reef found “virtually no

male turtles are now

being produced” on

the warmer northern

beaches, home to one

of the largest green sea

turtle populations in

the world. (More than

99 percent of juvenile

turtles were female.)

Other reptiles, including

crocodiles and some

lizards, also have

temperature-dependent

sex determination, so

the problem is expected

to increase as global

warming escalates. 

RINGED SEAL HABITAT Arctic ice floes THREAT Habitat loss

HABITAT Warm waters in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans, with nesting beaches

in more than 80 countries THREATS Temperature sensitivity, habitat loss