New Study Finds ‘Xenoestrogens’ In the Oceans Are Turning All of the Sea Turtles Female

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Sea turtles have long been in trouble, with urbanization and climate affecting their very existence. Now, according to a new study, experts say they face another crisis: a lack of males. However it’s probably not for the reason you might imagine.

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00:00 [Music]

00:03 Sea turtles have long been in trouble with urbanization and climate change affecting

00:07 their very existence. Now according to a new study, experts say they face another crisis,

00:12 a lack of males. The study outlines how oceanic pollutants don't just kill off sea turtles,

00:18 they seem to be promoting feminization of them as well. That is to say, the chemicals in the

00:22 water are having a physiological and biological effect on our planet's half-shelled ocean dwellers.

00:28 The chemicals are called xenoestrogens and they are known to bind to female sex hormones,

00:33 with the researchers finding that after they are absorbed by the mother, they accumulate

00:36 and pass into her offspring. With the study's lead author saying in a statement, quote,

00:40 "Our research shows that the risk of extinction due to a lack of male green sea turtles may be

00:45 compounded by contaminants that may also influence the sex ratio of developing green sea turtles,

00:50 increasing the bias towards females." The researchers looked specifically at green sea

00:54 turtles, which can be found all over the world in the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian Ocean, and in

00:59 the Mediterranean Sea. And the ratio of female to male is becoming exceedingly worse in some areas

01:04 as well, with the researchers noting that around the northern Great Barrier Reef, there are hundreds

01:09 of females born for every one male.

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