Rising temperatures are making it too hot for Florida’s turtles to enter the dating scene—literally.

The recent heat waves have raised the temperature of the sand on some beaches so much that nearly all turtles born in the last four summers have been female.

A turtle's gender depends on the temperature of the developing eggs, and this is dependent on the temperature of the sand in which the eggs are buried.

One evening, I told Arlindo Serrao, the organiser of the Diving Talks, that number two, following up on a prior success, was often challenging. I was referring to the fact that most movie sequels, with The Terminator and The Godfather being notable exceptions, often fail to get the same sort of traction as the first one; and that book authors and musicians frequently have less success with their second opus.

Sabah Parks has put stricter controls on diving at Sipadan island in an effort to better protect the island’s sensitive ecosystem.

The coral reef has degraded slowly over time and the intensity or frequency of diving needs to be retained, Sabah Parks director Maklarin Lakim said in a statement to Malay Mail.

Effective 1 October 2022, one permit will only allow two dives, instead of three, per day. However, divers who have already purchased dive packages and registered with Sabah Parks will still be permitted three dives at Pulau Sipadan, instead of two.