Mariana Fuentes

Sea Turtle Week: FSU marine biologist available to comment on importance of these keystone species

Published: June 7, 2021 | 2:14 pm | Posted in: Expert Pitches

A newly hatched pair of green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) make their way to the ocean. (Photo credit: Mark Sullivan, NOAA)

Sea turtles have existed on Earth for more than 100 million years. But today, most species of these oceangoing reptiles are threatened or endangered. Scientists and resource managers are working to better understand and manage their populations, and they’re using work like that led by Mariana Fuentes, an associate professor in the Department of Earth, […]

Coastal development, changing climate threaten sea turtle nesting habitat

Published: August 25, 2020 | 3:38 pm | Posted in: Science & Technology

Ocean waves cover a sea turtle nest in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Florida State University researchers found that sea-level rise is projected to submerge about 80 percent of current nesting habitat that is predicted to have a suitable climate for future egg incubation. Rising sea levels, a changing climate and coastal development each play a role in determining the availability of suitable nesting habitats in the future. This photograph was taken during permitted research activities. Photo by Matthew Ware / Florida State University

A research team led by Florida State University found that sea turtles in the U.S. will have less suitable nesting habitat in the future because of climate change and coastal development. Researchers found areas that will remain or become suitable for sea turtle nesting in the future because of climatic changes and sea-level rise will […]

The world on their backs: Loggerhead sea turtles host diverse community of miniature organisms

Published: June 1, 2020 | 12:23 pm | Posted in: Science & Technology

Researchers collect samples of organisms living on the shells of loggerhead sea turtles during summer 2018. Photo by Matthew Ware / Florida State University

Editor’s note: The photographs of loggerhead sea turtles were taken during research activities permitted by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (permit #MTP-18-239) under conditions not detrimental to these animals. Please do not attempt to recreate the content of these images without appropriate training and observation. These images were taken under red light and […]

Climate change could bring short-term gain, long-term pain for loggerhead turtles

Published: September 5, 2019 | 9:11 am | Posted in: Science & Technology

An overwhelming scientific consensus affirms that for thousands of species across the globe, climate change is an immediate and existential threat. For the loggerhead turtle, whose vast range extends from the chilly shores of Newfoundland to the blistering beaches of Australia, the story isn’t so cut and dried. New research from conservation biologists at Florida […]

For these critically endangered marine turtles, climate change could be a knockout blow

Published: December 17, 2018 | 11:22 am | Posted in: Science & Technology

Hawksbill turtles aren’t the only marine turtles threatened by the destabilizing effects of climate change, but a new study from researchers at Florida State University shows that this critically endangered species could be at particular risk. In a study published in the journal PLOS One, researchers from FSU’s Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science […]

Study shows sea turtle nesting beaches threatened by microplastic pollution

Published: May 1, 2018 | 12:30 pm | Posted in: Science & Technology

EOAS student researcher Victoria Beckwith surveyed 10 important loggerhead turtle nesting beaches along the Gulf coast. Microplastics were present at each site.

Plastic is famous for its unyielding durability, making it perfect for consumer products but a unique and persistent menace to the natural environment. For the loggerhead sea turtles that nest on the once-pristine beaches bounding the Gulf of Mexico, millimeters-thick pieces of broken down plastic — called microplastics — pose a particularly urgent threat. A […]

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