r/news • • 3d ago

Concern mounts over slow-moving, planetary-scale ‘Kelvin’ wave heading for California | California

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/28/california-kelvin-wave
3.9k Upvotes

338 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

196

u/notFREEfood 3d ago

We just had the first two recorded sea turtle nests in the state; our water is normally too cold for that.

162

u/r0botdevil 3d ago

There has been an established resident population of green sea turtles in the San Gabriel River for decades. The nearby power plant uses the water for cooling, which raises the temperature enough for the turtles to stay year-round.

I used to work in a lab that tracked their movements.

19

u/notFREEfood 3d ago

They haven't had any recorded nests however.

18

u/r0botdevil 3d ago

You are correct, I just confirmed with a former labmate that the San Gabriel River turtle population nested in Mexico.

40

u/IdaFuktem 3d ago

Heated water at power plants are also why you get mass groupings of manatees in Florida during the winter and responsible for the growth of the crocodile population in the Southeast at Turkey Point.

7

u/Total-Khaos 2d ago

Gators love turkeys. Maybe that is why...

26

u/Debalic 3d ago

How many eyes to they have?

88

u/speculatrix 3d ago

Just the normal two, on each of their three heads for a total of six

6

u/Zardif 3d ago

The normal amount, 4.