Dark cloud over record nesting

A Loggerhead Sea Turtle digs a nest along the Atlantic Ocean in this undated photo, in Juno Beach, Florida. It was a banner year for sea turtle nests at beaches around the US. — AP

JUST as they have for millions of years, sea turtles by the thousands made their laboured crawl from the ocean to United States beaches to lay their eggs over the past several months. This year, record nesting was found in Florida and elsewhere despite growing concern about threats from climate change.

In Florida, preliminary state statistics show more than 133,840 loggerhead turtle nests, breaking a record set in 2016. Same for green turtles, where the estimate of at least 76,500 nests is well above the previous mark set in 2017.