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More Female Sea Turtles a Result of Florida’s Hot Summers

时间:2022-08-29 08:52:39

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(单词翻译)

Florida's sea turtle population is changing because of hot weather.

Recent heat waves in the southern state have made the sand on the beaches so hot that almost of all the sea turtles born there are female.

When a mother sea turtle digs a nest for her eggs on the beach, the temperature of the sand decides the sex, or gender1, of the baby sea turtles, called hatchlings.

Bette Zirkelbach is the manager of the Turtle Hospital in the town of Marathon in the Florida Keys, an archipelago off the southern coast of the state.

Zirkelbach said that the past four summers have been the hottest on record in Florida, leading to more female sea turtles. "Scientists that are studying sea turtle hatchlings and eggs have found no boy sea turtles, so only female sea turtles for the past four years."

She said that an Australian study showed a similar effect in which "99 percent of the new sea turtle babies are female," Zirkelbach said.

NOAA is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric2 Administration, the U.S. government weather agency.

NOAA's National Ocean Service website says the sex of sea turtles is not determined3 at the time of fertilization, but by the temperature of developing eggs.

So, if the sand is very hot and the eggs are above 31 degrees Celsius4, the hatchlings will be female. If the temperature is below 27.7 degrees Celsius, then the turtle babies will be male.

Melissa Rosales Rodriguez is a sea turtle keeper at the turtle hospital at the Miami Zoo. She said, "Over the years, you're going to see a sharp decline in their population because we just don't have the genetic5 diversity. We don't have the male-to-female ratio needed in order to be able to have successful breeding sessions."

Both turtle hospitals have also been fighting turtle tumors. The tumors are called fibropapillomatosis, or FP. Among turtles, the tumors are contagious7. They can be deadly for the animals if they are not treated.

Zirkelbach would like to save every turtle she can by opening up more turtle hospitals, especially since the future of the population is at risk from climate change and disease.

"The Turtle Hospital was the first. But, sadly and fortunately, there's a need all throughout Florida," she said.

Words in This Story

beach – n. an area covered with sand or small rocks that is next to an ocean or lake

archipelago – n. a group of islands

determine –v. to be the cause of something; to decide if something will be one way or another

fertilization – n. the action or process of fertilizing8 an egg

diversity – n. the condition or fact of being different

breeding – adj. the process by which young animals are produced by their parents

tumor6 – n. an abnormal growth of body tissue

contagious - adj. transmissible by direct or indirect contact with an infected person

fortunately –adv. to say that it is lucky or good that something has happened


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1 gender slSyD     
n.(生理上的)性,(名词、代词等的)性
参考例句:
  • French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语,所有的名词都有性。
  • Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。
2 atmospheric 6eayR     
adj.大气的,空气的;大气层的;大气所引起的
参考例句:
  • Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
  • Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。
3 determined duszmP     
adj.坚定的;有决心的
参考例句:
  • I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
  • He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。
4 Celsius AXRzl     
adj.摄氏温度计的,摄氏的
参考例句:
  • The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
  • The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。
5 genetic PgIxp     
adj.遗传的,遗传学的
参考例句:
  • It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
  • Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。
6 tumor fKxzm     
n.(肿)瘤,肿块(英)tumour
参考例句:
  • He was died of a malignant tumor.他死于恶性肿瘤。
  • The surgeons irradiated the tumor.外科医生用X射线照射那个肿瘤。
7 contagious TZ0yl     
adj.传染性的,有感染力的
参考例句:
  • It's a highly contagious infection.这种病极易传染。
  • He's got a contagious laugh.他的笑富有感染力。
8 fertilizing 79a37a7878a3e9b841687c9b9748dd60     
v.施肥( fertilize的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • Sometimes the preliminary step must be taken of reducing weed population before fertilizing. 有时候,在施肥之前,必须采取减少杂草密度的预备性步骤。 来自辞典例句
  • The self fertilizing garden can also be planted in raised beds. 自我施肥的菜园也可以在苗圃床中种植。 来自互联网

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