00:00These are loggerhead sea turtles, and for years their numbers have been in decline.
00:04In fact, according to the Center for Biological Diversity, there may be only around 50,000 of them left in
00:10the wild.
00:10But now experts say they may have a lifeline in the Mediterranean, and global warming might actually be helping them
00:16along.
00:16A recent report by Global Ecology and Conservation found some 84 nests on beaches in France, Italy, Spain, and Tunisia
00:23in 2020.
00:24That's compared to an average of less than 3 a year in the decade prior.
00:27The researchers say this is likely due to new colonizations of turtles due to warming waters in the Mediterranean.
00:33With one of the researchers saying about the loggerhead numbers, quote,
00:36Areas where turtles never used to reach because they were not adequate for laying eggs are getting warmer.
00:41And perhaps now that these areas are warmer, they are now adequate.
00:44According to Spain-based environmental organization CEAM, the Mediterranean has gotten 2.3 degrees Fahrenheit warmer since 1982.
00:52Loggerheads are the world's largest hard-shelled turtle species, and they can live up to 100 years.
00:57Which the researchers say because of this, it takes years to get adequate information on their populations.
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