20/03/2023

More than half of the rehabilitated sea turtles got released back to the sea in 2022!

More than half of the rehabilitated sea turtles got released back to the sea in 2022!

People from many coastal locations in Greece have been reporting incidents of stranded sea turtles to the coast guards and ARCHELON for the last 35 years. The Sea Turtle Rescue Centre of ARCHELON in Glyfada was established in 1994 as a response to the growing numbers of stranded animals and up to now has received more than 1100 injured and sick sea turtles.

After their recovery and rehabilitation, sea turtles are released back to the sea, their natural habitat. “A day at the Rescue Centre is never ‘just another day’. On top of the daily care and treatment of the animals, it may include several phone calls to make sure that a suffering sea turtle will safely arrive from any point of the Greek maritime space, either from a big city like Alexandroupolis in the north Aegean, or from a small island off the coast of Crete” says Dimitris Fytilis, the Rescue Centre Manager.

“In January last year there were 30 turtles under care at the Centre and during the course of the year we had 33 arrivals and 32 releases”, says Eirini Kasimati, the Rescue and Rehabilitation Officer. “More than half the number of the sea turtles treated at the Rescue Centre last year got released back to the sea. This is a good result that makes us all here, staff and volunteers, happy”.

Picture 1.png

Most of the animals suffer from microplastics, plastic, fishing line, and hook ingestions. The reasons more often than not, sea turtles arrive at the Rescue Centre is injuries caused by deliberate hits on the head while “Even though the cases of such incidents were less than last year, still 13 sea turtles got admitted with inflicted head injuries”, says Eirini.“We hope these incidents will keep decreasing in the future”, she adds.

rescue-and-rehabilitaion-percentage-graph.png

Every sea turtle treated at the Centre becomes special and this is also the case of ‘Zoe’, a sea turtle that got admitted to the Rescue Centre in October 2019 with a severe head injury, coming from Monemvasia. After 3 years of consistent care by the staff and volunteers of the Rescue Centre it was possible for ‘Zoe’ to complete the rehabilitation process and return to his natural habitat in November 2022.

Zoe-sea-turtle-rehabilitation-recovery-pictures-collage.jpeg

“It’s so rewarding to see the health improvement of an animal under your care and to watch it enter the sea again, especially in case it got admitted in a very critical condition, such as ‘Zoe” says Alex Karaplis, a biologist, ecologist (that has been a dedicated volunteer at the Rescue Centre for three years and will be the Project Manager for South Peloponnese this year.

Watch the video with the releases of sea turtles from the ARCHELON Centre (youtube). Check out how to become a volunteer at the Rescue Centre here.

RECENT NEWS

  1. OUR NEWS
    26/06/2024

    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".

    Read more
  2. OUR NEWS
    17/06/2024

    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.

    Read more
  3. OUR NEWS
    16/06/2024

    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.

    Read more
  4. OUR NEWS
    13/06/2024

    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.

    Read more
  5. OUR NEWS
    17/05/2024

    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.

    Read more
  6. OUR NEWS
    16/05/2024

    Τhe nesting of loggerhead sea turtles started earlier this year and the effects of the climate crisis on the oceans are worrying

    For the first time, in the 40 years of ARCHELON records, the first sea turtle nest was found in Laganas Gulf, Zakythos on May 10th. Scientific predictions of the nesting season moving earlier in the spring due to climate change are being confirmed.

    Read more
  7. OUR NEWS
    14/05/2024

    Save Turtles, See Greece on a Budget

    Dreaming of pristine Greek beaches and a chance to make a real difference? Here's why June and September are the perfect months to volunteer with sea turtle conservation efforts in Greece!

    Read more
  8. OUR NEWS
    02/05/2024

    Sea Turtle Festival for Kids 2024

    Save the date! On Saturday 18 May at 11:00, the ARCHELON Rescue Centre opens its doors to welcome young and old sea turtle friends who want to celebrate, explore, learn, play and travel magically in the Mediterranean Sea. We are waiting for you to strengthen our message for a better and sustainable planet!

    Read more
  9. OUR NEWS
    02/05/2024

    A successful year for the International Sea Turtle Symposium

    The International Sea Turtle Symposium concluded triumphantly this March in Pattaya, Thailand, with ARCHELON actively participating.

    Read more
  10. OUR NEWS
    29/04/2024

    A Morning Beach Patrol with ARCHELON

    The camera lens of Stefanos and Maria of SteMajourneys caught a rare sight in the early morning: a Loggerhead sea turtle nesting! The volunteers in Chania took action right away to protect the nest.

    Read more
  11. OUR NEWS
    26/04/2024

    Protecting sea turtles in Rethymno- Our Ocean, an Ocean of Potential

    The 9th International Conference "Our Ocean", which was held in Athens from April 15 to 17, was successfully completed. ARCHELON had the honor to actively take part in the conference and hosted a side event.

    Read more
  12. OUR NEWS
    12/04/2024

    Coordination for the protection of sea turtles in Rethymno: Local authorities and tourism businesses join forces

    The meeting, which took place on April 5, 2024, in the building of the Regional Unit of Rethymno, touched upon key issues, such as the observance of conservation measures for the protection of the Loggerhead sea turtle. Given the tourist activity on the nesting beaches, the active participation of the tourism sector in the implementation of the measures is necessary.

    Read more
  13. OUR NEWS
    10/04/2024

    "Tourists and turtles?" The environmental awareness campaign of ARCHELON spreads to the nesting beaches of the Loggerhead sea turtle

    After the pandemic, ARCHELON - the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece - is once again mobilizing on the path to sustainable tourism. The aim of the new campaign is to provide information on the appropriate code of conduct for visitors to all nesting beaches, in cooperation with the tourism sector.

    Read more
  14. OUR NEWS
    04/04/2024

    LIFE MareNatura - The largest marine biodiversity program in Greece

    Read more
  15. OUR NEWS
    03/04/2024

    Citizens inform us of sea turtle strandings

    ARCHELON started the effort to record the incidents of dead turtles washing up on the Greek shores in 1992. In recent years there has been an increase in these records which may be due to more of our fellow citizens reporting such incidents. Learn more…

    Read more
1 out of 0
Subscribe to our newsletter!
Learn about our latest actions and find out about our programs and how you can help sea turtles!