The loggerhead turtle nesting season is here; and all beachgoers are asked to be vigilant.
More and more of these endangered marine reptiles are choosing to lay their eggs along Spain’s Mediterranean coast, far from their traditional nesting grounds in Turkey, Cyprus or Greece.
“This phenomenon could be linked to climate change and the increase in the temperature of the water, which may be leading to an expansion of the loggerhead turtle to new nesting areas,” notes Valencia’s Oceanogràfic foundation in a press release.
Loggerhead turtles are known to swim across the Mediterranean, from one side of the sea to the other.
In recent years beaches from Cataluña to Andalucía have seen pregnant mothers coming ashore to find a suitable place to nest.
The ‘season’ starts on June 1 and NGOs, universities, sea life centres, the emergency services and town halls are all now on alert to ensure that any eggs laid have the greatest chance of hatching.
The mothers sometimes scout a beach and decide conditions are not right and head back into the sea; tracks in the sand show they have been ashore.
When they do nest successfully, the alert is sounded and a full-scale operation is launched to ensure the eggs are protected.
The first people to spot a nest are often council beach cleaners.
For this reason a meeting was held last week in Santa Pola; Valencia university professor Jesús Tomás gave a talk on nesting, with beach-cleaning staff and local police officers from around Alicante province attending.
Torrevieja town hall biologist, Juan Antonio Pujol explained that they have been installing sensors at different beaches to check sand temperatures.
“One of most incredible periods of the year at our beaches is about to start,” he commented.
Public plea
One of the NGOs which takes part in the turtle operation in the Valencia region is the Xaloc association.
They reminded that ‘maximum collaboration’ is needed from the general public.
If anyone sees a loggerhead turtle at a beach, turtle tracks in the sand, or a nest, they are asked to call the 112 emergency number immediately.
The ‘turtle protocol’ will then swing into action.
This usually involves the local police force arriving to cordon off the area if a turtle is in situ, or if eggs have been laid.
Then, in the case of the Valencia region, marine biologists will arrive from the Oceanogràfic sea life centre or Valencia university.
They will decide whether the nest has to be moved to a quieter spot, usually nearby, or if it can remain where it is.
A nest can contain more than 100 eggs and the biologists will take between 10 and 20 for their headstarting programme, which sees them incubated by the Oceanogràfic.
The turtles are raised until they are around a year old, then released, usually at the same beach, when they have a much greater chance of surviving in the open sea.
If the mother is still at the nest, she will be given a health check and often a transmitter is fitted to her shell so biologists can follow her progress and learn more about the species.
Volunteers will stand guard and watch over a turtle nest for 24 hours a day until the remaining eggs hatch.
Valencia region
Oceanogràfic staff noted that seven nests were located in the Valencia region last summer (nine in 2023).
They were found in Valencia, Elche (two), Torrevieja (two), Benidorm and Denia.
They reported on August 21, 2024 that the first turtles had hatched from the nest located at La Punta beach, Valencia on June 23.
A total of 18 eggs were taken from the nest for headstarting; 10 hatched, with eight being ‘infertile’.
The tiny turtles measured 4cms in length on average and weighed around 15 grams.
They were later taken to a water tank, where they are spending a year growing and ‘becoming strong swimmers’.
When they are released into the sea, Oceanogràfic estimate that they have a 90% chance of survival at this age, ‘which is vital for the conservation of the species’.
At loggerheads
Oceanogràfic note that the loggerhead (Caretta caretta) is one of seven species of marine turtles in the world, and the most common in Spanish waters.
They are so-named due to their large heads and strong jaws.
Their diet is mostly comprised of jellyfish, molluscs and crustaceans.
National Geographic explain that the loggerhead is considered a ‘keystone species’ meaning that other animals in its ecosystem depend on it for survival.
The shells of invertebrates pass through their digestive systems and, upon excretion, fall back to the bottom of the ocean for other animals to eat as a calcium source.
National Geographic tell us that females often return to the beach where they hatched to lay their own eggs, sometimes travelling thousands of miles.
“They’re able to do so with the help of Earth’s invisible magnetic field, which loggerheads use to navigate at sea,” they reveal.
“Each stretch of coastline has its own magnetic signature, and these turtles remember and use them as guides.”
However, climate change is throwing off the ratio of male and female sea turtles.
The temperature of the sand in which turtles are hatched determines their sex and, as those temperatures rise, more female loggerheads are being born, says National Geographic.
Climate change is also raising sea levels and creating more extreme weather events, which also harm the turtle’s coastal habitat, they state.
Turtle protocol
Xaloc say it is crucial that people know the protocol to follow if they encounter turtles or nests.
After calling 112, they should keep their distance from the turtle and not disturb them or frighten them.
They should not use flashlights or flash photography.
For more information see the turtle alert website at www.alertatortuga.org
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