Our volunteer at the Rescue Centre Joanne Stournara updates us on the events from 1-31 October 2015.

Turtle news:

‘Liam’, who had arrived on 19 September 2015 with an ingested hook and flipper injury, is doing well. The hook was able to be removed without surgery, which is always a good thing for the turtle.

Three new turtles arrived in October. All are receiving drips and antibiotics and are in stable conditions:

‘Retsina’, a green turtle (46 cm carapace, 10.5 kilos) arrived from Volos on 7 October 2015. The turtle has a severe head injury and a jaw injury.

‘Dimitris-Pavlos’, a loggerhead, arrived from Preveza on 23 October 2015 with a human-inflicted head injury. The turtle is the biggest one we have had in 2015: his carapace measures 92 cm and he weighs 77.5 kilos. Because of his large size, he has to be put into one of the big, outdoor tanks, which will be difficult to keep properly heated during the winter. (Although I do my best to report the news objectively, I have to say that seeing this huge, majestic creature struggling is very difficult. We don’t know his age, but based on his size, he has managed to survive and thrive for a long time, and it’s truly a crime to see him in this condition, caused by a ‘human’.)

‘Ioli’, a loggerhead (carapace 49 cm, 14 kilos), arrived on 26 October 2015 from Evia. Suffering from hypothermia, she was a victim of the brief (but obviously dangerous) cold spell which had hit our area at that time.

Many thanks to everyone involved in rescuing and transporting these turtles.

Unfortunately, one turtle died as a result of his injuries. ‘Alan’, a loggerhead (77.5 cm carapace, 51 kilos) who had arrived on 25 August 2015 from Amfilochia with a human-inflicted head injury, died on 15 October 2015.

And now for the good news: After the brief cold spell, the weather has improved, which means that we have more time to release rehabilitated turtles back into the wild:

‘Barbara’, a loggerhead (carapace length 72.5 cm, weight 33.5 kilos) who had arrived on 19 June 2015 from Amfilochia with a human-inflicted head injury, was released 2 October 2015 by beach.

‘Georgia’ a loggerhead (68 cm carapace, 21.5 kilos) who had arrived on 8 June 2014 from Patras with a human-inflicted head injury, was released on 21 Oct by beach.

‘Ilias’, a loggerhead who had arrived 12 August 2015 from Lavrio with a flipper injury, was released on 29 October 2015 by boat into the Saronic Gulf.

‘Jo’, a loggerhead (59.5 cm carapace, 26 kilos), had arrived on 18 September 2015 from Zakynthos, was released by beach on 30 October 2015. The turtle had no visible injuries, but an X-ray revealed that she had shell compaction (i.e. her stomach was full of shells). Fortunately, she recovered quickly and was released.

Other news

On 18 October 10, 2015, ARCHELON joined forces with several other local volunteer organizations to organize a clean-up of various areas of Glyfada. Each organization ‘adopted’ an area of Glyfada and organized a clean-up of it. The ARCHELON RC had ‘adopted’ the area in front of the RC as well as the nearby beach. This is the second year that this event has taken place, and was a great success in all the areas involved as more people join in every year.

Did you know...

Climate change affects all sea turtles in a negative way. Besides loss of nesting beaches due to rising sea levels, temperatures can also affect the sex ratios of the incubating eggs. There are many articles about these new challenges to the already-endangered sea turtle species, for example: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/03/140317-turtles-green-turtles-scattered-islands-europa-mayotte-glorieuses-longlining-bycatch-world/

There are several Facebook pages about ARCHELON, but only one official page. Please LIKE the official ARCHELON Sea Turtle Rescue Society Facebook page and follow us for future events.