Nest Temperatures

Jun 15

The temperature inside a sea turtle nest can affect embryo development in a multitude of ways. It can affect incubation time, determine the sex of the turtle, affect the vigor and mobility of a hatchling, and even affect the success of a nest producing healthy hatchlings.

Many scientific studies related to incubation temperatures of sea turtles used constant incubation temperatures. We wanted to compare real life situations where temperatures vary from hour to hour and day to day to determine effects on sea turtle development.

In 2017, N.E.S.T. volunteers began placing temperature data loggers in all our sea turtle nests. In 2018, we upgraded our technology to Bluetooth capable data loggers whereby N.E.S.T. volunteers could download hourly temperature data directly from the nest to their cell phones for real time data analysis. Our goals were to explore how real-life nest temperatures impact incubation times, viability of embryos and hatchlings, and to assist volunteers in better management of nests.