Smelly, brown seaweed washing up on Florida shores is snaring baby sea turtles on their way to the ocean, researchers warned this week, leaving them vulnerable to predators and putting them at risk of dehydration and exhaustion.
The tiny reptiles emerge from their nests – holes their mothers dig on beaches – only a couple of days after they’re born, and race to the ocean under cover of darkness. They have to navigate around trash, avoid distracting artificial lighting, and get past hungry seabirds. Many hatchlings die and only about one in 1,000 will survive to adulthood.
