Adriano, Anastasia, Vasilis, Georgia, Katerina, Manolis, Petros, Yannis – these are just some of the injured Caretta caretta sea turtles being treated at the ARCHELON Sea Turtle Rescue Center in Glyfada.

This summer marked another ʽsadʼ record of injured sea turtle arrivals: There are currently 39 injured turtles in the tanks at the Center! The Centerʼs Coordinator and the volunteers from Greece, Sweden, Germany, England and France who take care of the injured turtles had to set up small, new, temporary tanks in order to take care of the poor, unfortunate animals.

The Rescue Center is located at the 3rd Marina in Glyfada on a six acre area which has been made available for this purpose by the town of Glyfada. The facilities of the Rescue Center are housed in renovated wooden train wagons provided by OSE, and all aspects of the current setup are designed so as to be mobile in nature (i.e. capable of being adjusted easily and quickly to meet the Centerʼs needs at any given time).

There are 35 tanks at the Center, all connected to an automatic system which brings in water from the sea. Water in the tanks is constantly renewed/replaced by an overflow system.

The Center is also the headquarters of the National Sea Turtle Rescue Network, whose priority is the constant monitoring and recording of sea turtle strandings throughout the year. By means of our phone hotline 210-8944444 and with the cooperation of the Greek Coast Guard (based on instructions in Y.E.N: M-3143.5/1/99 dated 20 July 1999), we have the capability to timely transport injured turtles from all parts of Greece to the Center.

The Rescue Center is open to the public every Saturday and Sunday, 11.00-17.00. It is the only place in Greece where visitors can both receive information about an animal which is in danger of immediate extinction and can also see some of the injured animals in their special tanks, where they are kept while they are being prepared for treatment by our veterinarians or being rehabilitated for their release back into the sea. (T.B-P.)

Translation by Joanne Stournara