Modeling the Impact of Pollution on Sea Turtles

Abstract

Human activities are currently threatening sea turtles at all life stages, both on nesting beaches and at sea. The debris and toxic waste dumped on the coast or at sea pollutes the sea and puts marine life in danger. In recent years, the number of global turtle population have noticeably decreased, and this is largely due to plastic pollution. However, how the sea pollution affects the sea turtles’ populations is not fully understood. Therefore, in this study, using the mathematical model, we will investigate the impact of pollution on sea turtle population. The model system is analyzed using standard mathematical techniques, including positivity of solutions and stability analysis. Our findings showed that there are two possible equilibrium points (i.e. steady-state solutions) for the model proposed, in which the stability analysis showed that only one of the solutions is asymptotically stable. Thus, the conditions of stability for both equilibrium points were also derived analytically based on their eigenvalues. As for the numerical simulations, the parameter of contamination rate is varied to investigate the effect of pollution on the population of sea turtles. The results suggested that if the contamination rate is high, then the population of sea turtles are expected to decrease and extinct approximately within 10 years. The comparison of survival and extinction of sea turtles are shown using the time series plots.