Looking at an egg and wondering when and if it ever hosted life is a curiosity most of us are familiar with. But what about sea turtle eggs?

With each sea turtle nest containing anywhere between 60-120 eggs, not all of them hatch into baby sea turtles - some instead exhibit hatching failure. But why do these eggs remain unhatched, and should we even care?

In our third episode, we welcome Alessia Lavigne, a passionate young researcher who believes that hatching failure in threatened sea turtle populations is a cause for concern that demands investigation. After all, eggs hatching successfully is key to ensuring population renewal.

So join Dr Minnie and Alessia, as they crack into the mystery surrounding sea turtle egg development, exploring the reasons behind hatching failure and their implications for sea turtle conservation.

Links for additional reading:

• Understanding early reproductive failure in turtles and tortoise by Lavigne, A. M., Bullock, R., Shah, N. J., Tagg, C., Zora, A., & Hemmings, N. (2023). bioRxiv.
• A field key to the developmental stages of marine turtles (Cheloniidae) with notes on the development of Dermochelys by Miller, J.D., J.A. Mortimer & C.J. Limpus.(2023). Chelonian Conservation and Biology, 16: 111-122.
• Failure to launch: what’s happening with Seychelles’ turtle and tortoise eggs? A project by Alessia Lavigne
• Alessia’s Instagram

We would love to hear your questions, comments or suggestions about the podcast. Email us at: seaturtlestories@oliveridleyproject.org

Olive Ridley Project (ORP), a charity founded in 2013, is on a mission is to protect sea turtles and their habitats through rescue and conservation medicine, scientific research, and education and outreach

To support Olive Ridley Project’s work in sea turtle conservation, you can, Name and Adopt a wild sea turtle, Adopt a turtle patient or Donate here: https://oliveridleyproject.org/donate

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Credits:

The Sea Turtle Stories podcast is presented by Olive Ridley Project

The host for the podcast series is Dr Minnie Liddell

The podcast is edited, mixed and mastered by Dev Ramkumar

The podcast series is produced and researched by Anadya Singh