40 Years of ARCHELON
This year marks 40 years of ARCHELON’s actions protecting the sea turtles in Greece!
Learn more about our vision, mission and how it all started.
There is always something going on at ARCHELON
Find out about the events we organize and our latest actions as we vigorously continue the work of studying, rescuing and protecting sea turtles in Greece!
- OUR NEWS26/06/2024
Sea Turtles Surprise us: if you see tracks on the beach, help ARCHELON's research!
Not all beaches on Greece's extensive coastline are suitable for sea turtle nesting, but sometimes these marine reptiles surprise us! This summer, ARCHELON is asking for your help to investigate a phenomenon called "sporadic nesting".
- OUR NEWS17/06/2024
ATTENTION! Sea turtles are not pets: Do not touch them or feed them!
In areas where a sea turtle associates human presence with food, it’s behavior changes. The turtle treats humans as well as other turtles as competitors in its feeding grounds and tries to drive them away with bites.
- OUR NEWS16/06/2024
30 Years of Hope: The Sea Turtle Rescue Centre of ARCHELON Celebrates World Sea Turtle Day
Every year on June 16th, we celebrate World Sea Turtle Day, a day dedicated to raising awareness about these magnificent creatures and the threats they face. This year is particularly important for ARCHELON, as the Sea Turtle Rescue Centre marks 30 years of operation.
- OUR NEWS13/06/2024
Poster contest for children and young adults: Welcome the 2024 turtle hatchlings on the beaches!
Watercolors, markers, collage, computer, phone? Everything is useful. Use your creativity and imagination to make an A3 or A4 size poster announcing that the 2024 sea turtle eggs are about to hatch.
- OUR NEWS17/05/2024
Amvrakikos Project 2024: Special Call for a Field Leader
ARCHELON is looking for a highly motivated person to lead its project in Amvrakikos Gulf, one of the few foraging sites for loggerhead turtles in Greece linking several populations nesting across the Mediterranean region.
Our Accounts for 2023
2023 passed by in a way that was both intense and difficult on the sea turtle nesting beaches in the Peloponnese, Zakynthos, Crete, and the Rescue Centre in Glyfada. We are grateful for the irreplaceable contribution of all 540 volunteers who came from afar and near to complete 40 years of sea turtle protection!
Volunteers at the loggerhead nesting beaches recorded and protected approximately 10,300 nests in a total of 100 km of nesting beach and talked with more than 70,700 people about sea turtle conservation.
The ARCHELON Rescue Centre in Glyfada continued to tirelessly rehabilitate injured and sick sea turtles throughout the year. There were 45 new arrivals, mostly loggerheads and one green turtle, while 22 recovered turtles returned to their natural habitat after getting fully recovered.
Environmental awareness activities with visitors and supporters at the Rescue Centre continued. Information about sea turtles was spread through the 241 live school visits from all across Attica and the 102 online tours even in the most remote regions of Greece.
The record number of nests required countless hours of work under the hot sun, and it was more crucial than ever that the nesting beaches' protection measures were followed. We are grateful for the support we received from old and new friends, donors, sponsors, collaborating organizations, and the hard work of our staff. By working together, we were able to help the sea turtles and play our part for a more sustainable planet!
The challenges for the marine environment will persist in 2024; however, the Mediterranean is our responsibility and united we are ready to defeat them.
Project areas
Discover all the active projects and visit us in your area.
Sea turtles in the Rescue Centre
The Sea Turtle Rescue Center has been operating since 1994 in Glyfada, Attica, next to the sea. It was founded by ARCHELON with the support of the Municipality of Glyfada and the Ministry of the Environment and is one of the first Sea Turtle Rescue Centers in the Mediterranean and the only one in Greece. Its purpose is the treatment and rehabilitation of injured and sick sea turtles and their release back to the sea. You can symbolically adopt one or more injured turtles at the Rescue Center, contributing to the costs of their care and feeding. And of course you can come and see them at the Rescue Centre, or you can be informed from our website about their progress and their release.