Lurking in the cool canal of a Florida nuclear power plant , an unlikely population of American gator has taken up residence and continues to boom . Fear not – the crocodile are n’t glowing , radioactive mutants with strange superpowers . In fact , the stilted habitat has help to touch on population of the imperil species .
Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station started expression in the sixties on the wetland habitat of South Florida . It feature an"elaborate system " of cooling canalsthat discharge rut from the atomic social unit and take up6,800acres . For decades , some of the region ’s resident crocodile have study reward of the system to live , procreate , and bounce back from the brink of local extinction .
Crocs were first account at Turkey Point in 1976 . Since then , plant operatorFlorida Power and Lightshas tagged more than 8,000 crocodile hatchlings . According to their estimates of the 2022 season , the nuclear works ’s canal saw a record , with 33 crocodile nests . It also saw the third - highest number of hatchling tagged and released , summate 512 .
Can you spot any crocs? Aerial photo of the Turkey Point Nuclear power generation in South Florida.Image credit: Felix Mizioznikov/Shutterstock.com
This was great news for these reptilian , a vulnerable specie native to South Florida and parts of Central America , South America , and the Caribbean .
American crocodilescan reach up to 6 meters ( 20 feet ) in length , although it ’s rare to see one big than 4.2 meters ( 14 foot ) in the wild . They ’re similar to American gator but can be distinguished by their promiscuous scales and more triangular snout .
The crocodile fly high at Turkey Point for a fistful of rationality : Its constant water level reduces the risk of nest flooding , plus it is comparatively free from human to-do and predation from other animals .
" It ’s a refuge for them , it ’s safe here . We have one of the most saturated nesting country in Florida and the United States , " Mike Lloret , a biologist hire by Florida Power and Lights , toldCBS Newsin 2024 .
However , it is n’t a perfect haven . In 2019 , the US Fish and Wildlife Service found that the misfortunate water tone in the channel system was harming crocodiles and their habitat , leading to a stern word of advice from theCenter for Biological Diversity .
One of the big concerns was a sudden increment in water salinity in the mid-2010s , which contribute to the collapse of seagrass and algae . The change institutionalise ripple up the food mountain chain , resulting in some of the crocodiles hunger and universe numbers decline .
Despite these challenge , the American crocodile of Turkey Point still seem to be faring better than those living elsewhere in the raw world , which continues to fight against hunt , pollution , and loss of home ground .
“ The females come in to nest , the male person come in trail the females , and then any of the issue that are born here will raise themselves here . We have stark isolated nesting areas that are disappearing in more natural area , ” Lloret said in a late interview withWTTW .
