Public excavation of a Caretta caretta sea turtle nest
In an upcoming event ARCHELON and NMPZ plan a public excavation on Friday 1st of September in front of the Louis Zante Beach Hotel in Laganas.
ARCHELON, in cooperation with the NMPZ, collects scientific data daily on the nesting, hatching and excavation of sea turtles and their nests from May to October every year. Trained volunteers of ARCHELON and the staff of the Management Agency of the NMPZ during the excavation season “open” some nests after the incubation period and study the eggs inside. By counting the empty hatched eggs and those that did not hatch in the nest, determines the success rate and the total number of eggs the nest contained. These numbers provide valuable information for the protection of the species, such as how many hatchlings were produced each season. Occasionally, some excavated nests contain live hatchlings, either trapped by rocks or compact sand or were too weak to come to the surface of the sand. In such cases, it is assessed whether they are strong enough for their important journey to the sea, or if the hatchling must be placed back under the sand to give them the opportunity to emerge the following night.
Those who will attend the public excavation will have the unique opportunity to discover what is inside the nests of the Caretta Caretta and understand the purpose of the protective measures established by the Management Agency of the NMPZ.
For more information on the Zakynthos National Marine Park and ARCHELON, you can visit the websites:
National Marine Park: http://www.nmp-zak.org (tel. Contact: 26950 29870)
ARCHELON The Sea turtle Protection Society of Greece: www.archelon.gr (Tel. Contact - Zakynthos: 6940454976)
Concerning Decrease Of The Nest Numbers In Zakynthos This Year
The bay of Laganas in Zakynthos is now dangerous to sea turtles
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