Turtle Conservation: ARCHELON Initiatives

As many of our readers will be aware, the beaches in the Rethymnon area are some of the last remaining nesting sites of the loggerhead turtle (caretta caretta) in the Mediterranean. This critically endangered species is under constant threat chiefly due to the impact of mass tourism and fishing activity. To find out more, we spoke to Mandy Pickard, British Team Leader and Volunteer Coordinator for ARCHELON (The Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece) in the Rethymnon area (and many thanks to Mandy for giving up some of her precious free time to us). She described some of the challenges faced by conservationists and updated us with details of work carried out locally by ARCHELON volunteers this summer.

Background

Every year, during the summer, adult female loggerhead sea turtles return here to the beaches where they were born in order to lay their eggs. As soon as the turtles have laid their eggs and camouflaged the nests with sand, they then leave the beach and head out to the oceans again. After about 55 days, all being well, tiny hatchlings emerge from the nests and make their solitary and treacherous journey down the beach into the sea. It is vital that the hatchling makes this journey on its own, without intervention, as this process gives the necessary stimulation to lungs and flippers for the baby turtle to be able to swim to safety. Most nesting and hatching activity takes place at night time, or in the early morning when temperatures are coolest.

Conservation, Monitoring and Educational Activities

Protecting the turtle habitat at the height of the tourist season is obviously problematic. During the day, when hundreds of people are enjoying themselves on the beach, unmarked nests are put at risk. At night, light pollution from discos and hotels disrupts the nesting process and is disorienting to hatchlings - in an ideal case scenario they would be guided to the sea by star light alone. However, given that tourism is such an essential part of the local economy, ARCHELON recognises that it is important to adopt a pragmatic approach to turtle conservation and to seek to win hearts and minds of local business owners. Measures that are relatively straightforward to implement include: surrounding nest sites with protective cages, dimming or blacking out beach facing lights at night and clearing the beach of sunbeds and umbrellas at the end of the day. More specialised activities include monitoring nesting sites and turtle activity, treating sick and wounded animals and promoting public awareness.

Throughout the summer ARCHELON volunteers have been conducting night surveys and dawn patrols. So far, 115 nests have been identified by volunteers, about 35 of these nests have been relocated into a ‘hatchery’. Ideally, nests should be left in situ, but there are occasions when nests have to be relocated, for example if the female lays eggs too close to the water. Mandy says that numbers are down on last year, but this may be partially due to the fact that there are also fewer volunteers. Recently, the first hatching took place, and this was a moment of great excitement for the team. The night surveys will soon come to an end as the females will stop coming ashore to lay eggs. At the end of the season, old nest sites will be excavated. This allows ARCHELON to log the relative incubation success rate and to try and identify causes of ’hatching failure’ for future reference.

Mandy has been giving educational seminars at Hotels across the island and also at what used to be Pagalachori village school. The school was closed down in 1984, and was subsequently refurbished by the Municipality of Arkadi and donated to ARCHELON as an educational facility. During the summer, seminars have been presented to tourists and international students (for example to young people visiting Crete as part of the ‘People to People’ initiative). In the winter the emphasis will shift to promoting awareness amongst the local community

How You Can Help

In the limited space we have it is sadly impossible to do justice to the work of ARCHELON here. You can find out much more about their work on the www.archelon.gr website. Locally, you will find an ARCHELON information kiosk on the beach road in Rethymnon which is generally open from 4pm to 10pm throughout the summer. There are some simple ways in which everyone can help the turtles and still enjoy the beach. If you come across a protected nest on the beach - generally enclosed by metal frames and clearly marked– please don’t disturb it. Dispose of rubbish particularly carefully, plastic bags and bottles are a particular hazard as the sea turtles mistake them for jelly fish. Avoid using nesting beaches at night. If you spot an injured turtle, contact the rescue helpline (number given below). If you are lucky enough to see a hatchling making its first journey to the sea, please DON’T TOUCH IT.

Contact Details

To make a donation, adopt a turtle or to find out about
becoming a volunteer contact ARCHELON at:
Solomou 57, 104 32 Athens, Greece. Telephone +30 210 52 31 342. Helpline: + 30 210 89 44 444
Email stps@archelon.gr
www.archelon.gr