On September 6, 2017, the face of Barbuda changed forever with the arrival of Category 5 Hurricane Irma. Irma left a trail of destruction which exacted a massive cost to local infrastructure, and affected local green and loggerhead turtle populations.

Global concern is growing about the current and future impacts of sea-level rise that will likely affect coastal property owners, beach-based economies, and sea turtle nesting beaches. Coastal erosion is bad for all those factions, yet effective long-term solutions to confront the rising tide of beach erosion are few and far between.

Green turtles are among the most iconic species in the Hawaiian Islands, and they have been the subject of scientific study for more than four decades. Extensive research on the Hawaiian green turtle population has enabled us to observe changes in Hawaiian green turtle nesting distribution that may suggest the foundation of a new, distinct nesting population, thus offering a unique learning opportunity.

Before 2000, there had been only a single published account of sea turtle nesting in Peru. The prevailing notion was that Peru is too far south—too cold—for successful sea turtle nesting. Thanks to the efforts of ecOceanica, we now know that nesting seems to be on the rise along Peru’s coast.

On St. Catherines Island, Georgia (U.S.A.), three geologists involved in sea turtle conservation—have been documenting the deterioration of sea turtle nesting habitat caused by sea-level rise since 1998. The extreme shoreline changes on St. Catherines Island produce difficult conditions for nesting loggerhead sea turtles and challenge conservation efforts; however, these conditions also create an opportunity to develop, evaluate, and optimize conservation methods on this sentinel island.

Change is nothing new to sea turtles. They have inhabited the Earth for many millions of years, persisting and evolving through the continuous changes in distribution of land and sea, climate, ocean currents, and sea level that have defined their world. First appearing in the fossil record 110 million years ago during the Early Cretaceous, sea turtles have shown remarkable resilience in adapting to environmental changes throughout their history.