Home > Science > Climate Change

Turtles need to migrate across the airport and don't care if they delay flights at JFK

Migration time waits for no flights.

Emma Hinchliffe

on July 8, 2017

Turtles need to migrate across the airport and don't care if they delay flights at JFK

Time to go to the airport. Credit: Shutterstock / Lamnoi Manas

Those flight delays might not actually be the result of inclement weather — for some trying to leave New York this week, it was turtles.

About 40 turtles caused delays at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on Friday when they interrupted takeoffs while migrating for a nesting ritual -- aka turtle sexy time -- the New York Daily News reported.

Apparently, this isn't that unusual.

Mashable Light Speed

Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories?

By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Thanks for signing up!

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

JFK is near a bay where the turtles, diamondback terrapins, usually live. Migration time means some headaches on the runway.

"Air traffic control," indeed.

Topics Animals

Emma Hinchliffe

Emma Hinchliffe is a business reporter at Mashable. Before joining Mashable, she covered business and metro news at the Houston Chronicle.