Seven monitoring research projects for Caretta caretta during 2010, with ARCHELON support
- Environmental attitudes of volunteer conservationists. Hannah OʼMahoney, Cardiff University, UK
Hannah OʼMahoney is undertaking research funded by the British Economic and Social Research Council for an MSc in Social Science Research Methods at Cardiff University. Ιn-depth interviews will be conducted with volunteers participating in the Kyparissia Bay project, in order to explore their environmental beliefs and values. The analysis of data collected will help Hannah to make preliminary insights in order to pursue further research when she embarks on her PhD next September. Her interest at this point is to investigate the degree to which participantsʼ engagement with sea turtle conservation can be related to underlying pro-environmental values, and, through narrative analysis methods, investigate the relationship between environmentalism and self-perception.
- Effects of Artificial Light on Loggerhead Sea Turtles (Caretta caretta) at Nesting Beaches in Rethymno on Crete, Greece: A Case Study. Sebastian Richter, Phillipps-University Marburg, Germany
3) Impacts of Global Warming on the Ecology of Loggerhead Turtles in the Mediterranean Sea Samir Patel, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Samir Patelʼs PhD project will span the next three seasons and includes attaching satellite telemetry systems on 30 adult female loggerheads nesting in Rethymno, Crete, in order to determine their post-nesting behavior. The telemetry systems provide several a variety of data, including locations, sea temperatures and depths experienced by each turtle. These data will allow Samir to determine how the turtles react and make use of the various conditions in the Mediterranean when returning from their nesting beaches to foraging sites. The ultimate goal is to use this information to predict how loggerhead turtles of the Mediterranean may react to the changing conditions of the sea associated with global warming. This project is undertaken under the guidance of Dr. Jim Spotila of Drexel University in Philadelphia, and Dr Steve Morreale of Cornell University, Ithaca New York for Samirʼs doctoral degree.
4) Thermal and spatial tracking of internesting loggerheads in Kyparissia Bay Tom Backof, Indiana Purdue University, Indiana, USA
5) An investigation of the gap between environmental awareness and environmentally friendly behaviour of tourists in Rethymno Natalie Pears, University of Nottingham, UK
The research is part of Natalieʼs dissertation for an MSc in Environmental Management. It is on environmentally responsible tourism, increasingly used to help protect the environment of holiday destinations by informing the tourists of the appropriate behaviour required. The project is taking place in Rethymno, Crete. As a nesting beach that is so heavily developed due to tourist activities, responsible tourism is extremely important. The study aims to analyse the information available on environmentally responsible tourism, how efficient it is and how effective it is at influencing tourist knowledge, attitudes and behaviours. Interviews will be conducted with those providing the information to determine their perspectives on responsible tourism. Using questionnaires, Natalie aims to determine efficiency, and how it affects tourist behaviour and attitudes towards the environment of their holiday destination.
6) Metabolism and gas exchange of loggerhead sea turtle nests in Zakynthos and Kyparissia Bay Jack Suss, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA USA
7) Inter-nesting behavior of loggerhead turtles in Rethymno, Crete, Greece Aliki Panagopoulou, Drexel University, Philadelphia PA, USA
This research is undertaken as part of Alikiʼs Masterʼs Thesis at Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA, USA. The study aims to look at the behaviour of sea turtles nesting in Rethymno, Crete during the period between two nesting events. Loggerhead sea turtles lay on average 1-4 clutches in a single season, with 13 – 22 days between each nesting event. The main objective of this project is to potentially identify areas these turtles prefer to be in and their swimming/diving patterns during those inter-nesting periods. To achieve this, radio transmitters and Time-Depth recorders are placed on nesting females during night survey work already undertaken by ARCHELON. This equipment is retrieved when the turtle returns to the beach about 15 days later. During the day, the location of the turtles is identified through radio tracking. The results of the study may play an important role in the compilation of management measures within the marine zone off the Rethymno nesting beach, helping to prevent casualties from speed boats or fishing activities.
“Rafael” from Zakynthos was released
People to People Crete 2010
RECENT NEWS
- OUR NEWS15/09/2023
Lilo, the tiny green turtle, made it back to the sea!
In November 2021 a small green turtle arrived at the ARCHELON Rescue Centre with a very serious head injury. After almost two years of intensive care, one Wednesday in September 2023 he was finally discharged and returned to the sea!
- OUR NEWS17/08/2023
World record of 37 years of reproductive life for a loggerhead sea turtle in Zakynthos, Greece – increased number of nests this summer, says ARCHELON
ARCHELON – the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece announces an important outcome of the systematic work of this year's sea turtle nest monitoring team in Zakynthos. Based on their long-term observations, ARCHELON managed to certify a new World Record of reproductive activity for loggerhead turtles.
- OUR NEWS07/08/2023
ATTENTION! Sea turtles are not pets: Do not touch them or feed them!
The Municipality of Eastern Mani and the Port Authorities requested the assistance of ARCHELON to inform beach users in the area of Limeni, near Mani, where 35 new incidents of sea turtle attacks on sea bathers have been recorded during this summer season. These are added to the already long list of 200 such records of previous years found in the nearby Health Center in Areopolis.
- OUR NEWS01/08/2023
Interview with a volunteer: Lea Heinen, Rescue Centre
Interview with a volunteer: Lea Heinen, Rescue Centre Lea shares her experience volunteering at the ARCHELON Sea Turtle Rescue Centre: “I think when a turtle starts to eat after a month of trying, when you can see the improvement or healing of a turtle's injury and when a turtle is released back into the sea, into its natural habitat, into its home - then you know that you are indeed saving turtles”.
- OUR NEWS21/07/2023
Kids Beach Competition 2023: Make your own little sea turtle with natural materials and send us a photo!
Help us spread the message about the protection of sea turtles by making your own baby turtles with natural materials you will find on the beach. Sand, stones, pebbles, shells, seaweed, sticks and whatever else you have available, can be transformed with a little imagination! Take a photo of your work and send it to the ARCHELON Beach Competition.
- OUR NEWS18/07/2023
Paving the way for next steps in conservation of marine turtles in the Mediterranean region
Last week the partner organizations of the project “Conservation of Marine Turtles in the Mediterranean Region” met for the 9th Steering Committee Meeting. The meeting was organized by SPA/RAC in the area of Kyparissia Bay, Greece on the 4th and 5th of July, 2023 in collaboration with ARCHELON.
- OUR NEWS04/07/2023
An offer to EXPERIENCED volunteers: You can now join the beach projects for 2-3 weeks!
The time is just right to join the projects again, even if you have only 2 or 3 weeks of available time. This offer is valid for August, September, October 2023. Apply through our new website and find out more about the dates and places you can join. More…
- OUR NEWS22/06/2023
The nesting season has begun! Learn what you can do if you find sea turtle tracks or nests on the beach
The nesting season for the loggerhead sea turtles has begun. The nests that are made in the areas monitored by ARCHELON and other collaborating groups are already being recorded. However, if you find tracks or nests on other beaches, you can also participate in the effort to record and protect these sporadic nests. Find out why it's important…
- OUR NEWS16/06/2023
A breath away from registering a new world record on the years of known active reproduction of a loggerhead sea turtle is ARCHELON, the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece
This is the year when ARCHELON, a nonprofit environmental NGO, is celebrating 40 years of continuous and targeted action to save sea turtles in Greece and the Mediterranean. At the same time, the project teams of ARCHELON are ready to register the longest period of active reproduction known for the Loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta), in case it happens this year!
- OUR NEWS15/06/2023
A Saturday unlike any other - Turtle Festival 2023
ARCHELON invites kids and adults to celebrate the environment and the sea in an exciting way at the "Sea Turtle Festival" on Saturday, May 27 at the Sea Turtle Rescue Centre in the 3rd Marina of Glyfada.
- OUR NEWS07/06/2023
Announcement for all past volunteers of ARCHELON: Shall we meet this September?
Highlight: Hi everyone! This year marks 40 years of ARCHELON’s action for protecting sea turtles in Greece. During these four decades, thousands of volunteers from many countries joined our sea turtle projects and the Rescue Centre to help save the turtles. Let’s meet again this coming September and celebrate the animals we saved during all these years.
- OUR NEWS07/04/2023
Waiting list for schools that want to visit the ARCHELON Rescue Centre
Thousands of Greek students visit the Centre and get informed about the value of protecting the environment through contact with a particularly beloved animal, the sea turtle. "All the available visiting hours until the end of the 2022-2023 school year have been booked, but there is a waiting list that is activated in case of cancellations", says Anna Kontoleon, ARCHELON’s Education Officer. More hours for online tours may be added in May if volunteers become available.
- OUR NEWS28/03/2023
People are supporting wildlife conservation
The donations and "adoptions" made at the Rescue Centre in Glyfada, Attica and at ARCHELON’s field projects in Zakynthos, the Peloponnese and Crete in 2022, reached the amount of €350,000. We did a lot last year thanks to all these people, who also made it possible for us to continue this year.
- OUR NEWS24/03/2023
Gail Schofield
We learned with deep sadness the passing away of Gail Schofield, a pronounced sea turtle researcher and former ARCHELON volunteer. Read more…
- OUR NEWS20/03/2023
More than half of the rehabilitated sea turtles got released back to the sea in 2022!
The Sea Turtle Rescue Centre of ARCHELON in Glyfada rescues, takes care of and rehabilitates injured sea turtles from all parts of Greece since 1994. More than half of the sea turtles that were under care at the Rescue Centre in 2022 got released back to the sea after reaching full recovery this year! Read more…