SANIBEL, Fla. — Southwest Florida has been fortunate to avoid major red tide blooms in recent years, but new research reveals how these toxic events continue to impact sea turtle populations long after the blooms disappear.
Fox 4 Meteorologist Andrew Shipley spoke with the Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation about their recent study examining how red tide toxins affect loggerhead turtle hatchlings, and the findings show a troubling connection between these blooms and turtle survival rates:
"During the actual red tide bloom, we saw more sea turtle deaths in Southwest Florida than ever been recorded for a single red tide bloom," said Kelly Sloan, coastal wildlife director at the Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation.
The devastating 2018 red tide super bloom sparked a comprehensive study into how the toxins affect nesting loggerhead turtles. Researchers collected blood samples from nesting females and examined eggs that failed to hatch, along with any dead hatchlings found in nests.
"The adult females did have toxins in their system," Sloan said.
The toxins likely come from the turtles' foraging grounds and the food they consume in those areas.
"So, where they are going to eat is probably a major component in how much toxin exposure they are getting. The other component is that the toxins can stay in the prey items for a long time, maybe up to a year or even more," Sloan said.
The study found that turtles foraging in the Gulf of America had higher toxin levels than those using other areas. These repeated toxic exposures are damaging the turtles' immune systems and passing toxins to their offspring.
"These toxins are lipophilic, which means they attach to fats essentially. So, they are probably transferring it from the stores of the liver or fat to the egg yolk into the hatchling," Sloan said.
This creates an additional challenge for hatchlings already facing numerous survival obstacles.
"The higher the concentration of toxins, the lower the hatch success. And what we are trying to do, is get more hatchlings into the water," Sloan said.
During the most recent turtle season, researchers expanded their study to evaluate loggerhead hatchling fitness, health and survival rates.
"All kinds of things effecting these turtles, so if we can understand which piece plays which role, we can better protect them in the end," Sloan said.
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