Our volunteer at the Rescue Centre Joanne Stournara updates us on the events from 1-31 May 2016.

As we are entering the busy summer season, more volunteers will be needed (on a daily and long-term basis) to take care of the turtles. If you are interested in helping, please contact Pavlos Tsaros at rescue@archelon.gr

Number of turtles currently being treated: 24

Now that summer temperatures have arrived in Greece, turtles who have recovered their health are getting ready to be released.

Turtle news

Arrivals

‘Emilia’ arrived on the 28 May 2016 from Thessaloniki with a severe head injury intentionally caused by human hands. It’s too early to know what her progress will be.

‘Pounda’ arrived on 31 May 2016 from Preveza with a severe injury on the left side of her head which has affected her eye. The injury was intentionally inflicted by human hands. It’s too early to know what her progress will be.

Deaths

Unfortunately, a number of the newly-arrived, seriously injured turtles did not survive.

‘Kavouri’, (carapace length 40 cm and weight 10 kilos) who arrived on 24 April 2016 from Kavouri, had an ingested hook and line as well as a large injury on the back of his carapace (cause unknown). He had surgery which successfully removed the hook. He was recuperating well, had started eating, and even eliminated the line naturally, but against all the odds, he died on 26 May 2016.

‘Luna’ arrived from Oropos on 28 May 2016. The turtle was very emaciated, and unfortunately died on the same day.

‘Sylvia’, a loggerhead (25 cm carapace length, weight 1.8 kg) arrived from Finikounda on 25 May 2016 with an ingested hook and line and carapace injuries on her right side. She was very emaciated and, unfortunately, nothing could be done to save her. She died on 29 May 2016.

‘Sunny’, a loggerhead (67.0 cm carapace length, weight 29 kg, had arrived on 10 Aug 2015 with very serious carapace injuries and a missing flipper. The carapace injury affected her spine, ultimately leading to her death.

‘Petros’, a loggerhead (70 cm carapace length, weight 42 kg) arrived 5 March 2016 from Kefalonia with a severe head injury. The turtle had been rescued and sent to the RC by the local Kefalonia animal protection group Wildlife Sense. Unfortunately, he died on 23 May 2016.

Other news

Did you know...

For non-Greek speakers, here is a brief summary of the organization’s objections:

"Open Letter from 14 environmental organizations to Deputy Environment Minister John Tsironi; Published on: 18/05/2016

The signatory environmental organizations believe that this 'carte blanche' concession of protected fragile coastal ecosystems of the country to local authorities (‘OTA’) will lead to considerable degradation of the areas, as it is not possible to control the number of concessions which will be made, in which areas they will occur, and what the type of development will be."

(Note that the law is still under discussion, and hopefully will be improved).