Heroic Efforts to Save Loggerhead Turtles in Greece

May 22, 2023

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A loggerhead hatchling. Photo by Jean-Baptiste Pouchain.

A loggerhead mother laying on the beach at sunset. Photo by Jean-Baptiste Pouchain.

Among the shadows of the night, I finally ѕрot them: fresh tracks, coming from the sea and makingtheir way to the obscurity of the sand dunes. Somewhere up there, a sea turtle is looking for an idealnesting site. Silently, I lie dowп on the wet ground and start crawling, all my senses on the watch, alongthe crescent-like marks. I hear her before seeing her: a muffled noise of sand tһгowп in the air. Then,the moonlight unveils a perfectly round carapace engaged in a pendulum-like motion. My weeks longtraining to become a tagger tells me that she started digging her egg chamber. My work will start inabout ten minutes. I seize the opportunity to enjoy the greek summer’s nocturnal sky illuminated by theѕһootіпɡ stars. When everything becomes silent, I carefully move forward until I’m behind the shell.

A loggerhead mother returning to sea. Photo by Jean-Baptiste Pouchain.

A loggerhead nest with four eggs. Photo by Jean-Baptiste Pouchain.

There is a remarkable creature known as the loggerhead turtle, or Caretta-Caretta, distinguished by its distinct brown coloration and the presence of a sizable head and a powerful beak. As I observe her, I notice the rhythmic contractions characterized by the gradual vertical stretching of her hind flippers. I direct my infra-red light towards the egg chamber, revealing a small quantity of ping pong-like eggs already present, while others continue to emerge from the reptile’s cloaca. From this moment onward, fueled by a surge of hormones, the turtle becomes oblivious to the world around her.

Now is the time to prepare the tagging equipment. I retrieve the PIT, a chip that will be inserted into the muscle of her front left flipper using a large-gauge needle. Additionally, I gather the plastic and metallic tags, which will be attached between the scales of her hind left and front right flippers, respectively, utilizing different applicators. Taking measurements of her carapace and briefly assessing her overall health will conclude the process.

If the turtle is relatively old, calm, and experienced, the tagging procedure should be straightforward, lasting approximately twenty minutes, occurring between the moments she covers the eggs, conceals the nest, and returns to the sea. However, if she is laying eggs for the first time, she may struggle, vigorously flap her powerful flippers, and even attempt to bite. Yet, this particular turtle surprises me. As I examine her, my eyes are unexpectedly drawn to a small, yellowish object on her hind flipper: a rectangular piece of plastic displaying a code. She has already been tagged. This is something I had been anticipating for a while now, as it is a significant event within ARCHELON’s program. These tags enable us to track the turtles’ migrations and study their nesting patterns. A swift glance at my logbook confirms that she was tagged precisely two weeks ago by one of my colleagues, in this very sector of Kyparissia beach.

Turtles have the capability to lay eggs more than four times during the nesting season, which spans from mid-May to mid-August, often returning to the same location. However, they also undertake extensive migrations across the seas. Turtles tagged on the neighboring island of Zakynthos have been known to emerge from the Bay of Kyparissia for nesting purposes.

Volunteers checking on marked nest sites. Photo by Jean-Baptiste Pouchain.

One of the marked nest sites. Photo by Jean-Baptiste Pouchain.

A loggerhead mother returning to sea after laying. Photo by Jean-Baptiste Pouchain.

There is a remarkable creature known as the loggerhead turtle, or Caretta-Caretta, distinguished by its distinct brown coloration and the presence of a sizable head and a powerful beak. As I observe her, I notice the rhythmic contractions characterized by the gradual vertical stretching of her hind flippers. I direct my infra-red light towards the egg chamber, revealing a small quantity of ping pong-like eggs already present, while others continue to emerge from the reptile’s cloaca. From this moment onward, fueled by a surge of hormones, the turtle becomes oblivious to the world around her.

Now is the time to prepare the tagging equipment. I retrieve the PIT, a chip that will be inserted into the muscle of her front left flipper using a large-gauge needle. Additionally, I gather the plastic and metallic tags, which will be attached between the scales of her hind left and front right flippers, respectively, utilizing different applicators. Taking measurements of her carapace and briefly assessing her overall health will conclude the process.

If the turtle is relatively old, calm, and experienced, the tagging procedure should be straightforward, lasting approximately twenty minutes, occurring between the moments she covers the eggs, conceals the nest, and returns to the sea. However, if she is laying eggs for the first time, she may struggle, vigorously flap her powerful flippers, and even attempt to bite. Yet, this particular turtle surprises me. As I examine her, my eyes are unexpectedly drawn to a small, yellowish object on her hind flipper: a rectangular piece of plastic displaying a code. She has already been tagged. This is something I had been anticipating for a while now, as it is a significant event within ARCHELON’s program. These tags enable us to track the turtles’ migrations and study their nesting patterns. A swift glance at my logbook confirms that she was tagged precisely two weeks ago by one of my colleagues, in this very sector of Kyparissia beach.

Turtles have the capability to lay eggs more than four times during the nesting season, which spans from mid-May to mid-August, often returning to the same location. However, they also undertake extensive migrations across the seas. Turtles tagged on the neighboring island of Zakynthos have been known to emerge from the Bay of Kyparissia for nesting purposes.