One of the most heart-pounding moments of the BBC's Planet Earth series has to be the baby sea turtles.
In the last episode of the show's second series, viewers watched cute baby sea turtles emerge from their nests in the sand. Then, our hearts collectively dropped as Sir David Attenborough's voiceover cut in to inform us that the tiny turtles, confused by nearby city lights, were headed the wrong way — straight into traffic.
Why must you play with our hearts, Mr. Attenborough? GIF from "Planet Earth II"/BBC.
It's a harrowing scene. The series didn't show how it ended for the babies, but after viewer outcry, the BBC confirmed via Twitter that — in defiance of normal standards — the filmmakers intervened to help direct the turtles back to the sea.
Unfortunately, not every sea turtle has a film crew watching its back, and many species have found themselves in trouble.
Sea turtles face a lot of threats — from poaching, to fishing gear, to habitat destruction. Climate change affects how they nest and breed. A 2015 report suggested that more than half of all the world's sea turtles have accidentally eaten plastic debris.
The IUCN, a world authority on nature conservation, lists three of the world's seven sea turtle species as "endangered" or "critically endangered" and three more as "vulnerable."
Since the 1950s, conservation efforts have tried to address these threats. But have they worked?
A new study shows that sea turtle protection efforts have indeed paid off.
A team of researchers at Greece's Aristotle University headed by Antonios Mazaris analyzed over 4,400 existing estimates of sea turtle numbers, in a report published Sept. 20 in Science Advances.
Their conclusion? Overall, sea turtle numbers around the world are growing. Of the 17 major regions they examined where sea turtle numbers were changing, 12 had seen growth. Only five had significant decreases.
It's enough that a press release about the study called it a "global conservation success story."
Woo! Photo from kormandallas/Pixabay.
Changes to fishing regulations, beach protections, and other efforts have helped ensure that more baby sea turtles have a chance to see adulthood and that the ocean will be a safer place for adult sea turtles to live.
There's still a lot of work to do, the researchers were careful to note. Some sea turtle populations are still dwindling, there's still a lot to learn, and we definitely shouldn't slack off if we want to see their numbers keep going up.
This study is a reminder that, while humans might cause problems for animals like sea turtles, we also have the power to help fix them as well.
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."