Basking sea turtles not as common due to warming seas

With the seas warming overtime, sea turtles that bask on the beach, to regulate their body temperature and aid their immune systems and digestion, may stop. According to a survey, turtles have been found basking more often each year when the sea surface temperatures drop. Along with this survey, a study shows that "if global warming trends continue, this behavior may cease globally by 2102 or even earlier." Kyle Van Houtan and his team conducted a study, using six years of turtle count data, to see the amount of turtles basking over the years. According the Houtan, "by comparing turtle basking counts with sea surface temperatures, we found that green turtles tend not to bask when local winter sea surface temperatures stay above 23 degrees Celsius." The study found the counts to be regular, seasonal fluctuations in the number of turtles basking. The fluctuations correlated with sea temperatures, leading to sea turtles basking more when the water is cool. More research is needed to understand the importance of basking and the climate change. With beach basking being observed in tropical places, such as Hawaii and the Galapagos, the sea surface temperatures have been warming at three times the global average rate. According to Van Houtan, "the next step for us is to look at how turtles are storing climate data in their bodies - in their tissues, shells, and bones, and how we can tease that out. I find this article very informative and interesting to see something that we do for pleasure and happiness is really important to sea turtles. With warming sea temperatures, sea turtles are at risk of stopping and possibly basking in the water.

Some Fish can handle the heat

I found this article and it discusses how tropical fish have a better tolerance for the high and rising temperatures in the sea. They were said to evolve over several generations and appear to have a better capacity to deal with the heat than other fish. This is crucial for the survival of these fish due to the rising temperatures from global warming and can inevitably prevent them from becoming extinct and dying off. They tested this theory by exposing damsel fish to temperatures that were 1.5 to 3.0 degrees higher than normal there was a decline in their aerobic capacity. When compared to the fish that were bred for several generations there was almost a complete environmental adjustment with the offspring in the higher temperatured water . This happens because when the one generation goes through their life cycle in warm temperatured water the next generation that comes up is better able to cope with the temperature. So its pretty amazing to see the adaptations these fish can make from generation to generation. My guess is that if the water temperature got colder these fish could make these same adaptations as they did with the warmer water as well.