The first report of 2025 delivered from Romanos Beach, Messinia
Kostas Teneketzis, an environmental researcher and long-time collaborator of ARCHELON, reports that the nesting season of the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) at Romanos beach in Messinia is drawing to a close.
Located on the west coast of the Peloponnese, about 50 km west of Kalamata, Romanos beach has been systematically monitored since 2010 in collaboration with COSTA NAVARINO, with the aim of recording reproductive activity and protecting nests mainly from predators and flooding by the sea.
From mid-May to early September 2025, the project recorded about 80 nests along the 2.7 km stretch of Romanos beach. Thanks to daily monitoring, most of the nests were protected with protective grids and signage, while a few of them were relocated to safer spots on the beach to avoid flooding. Nevertheless, predation by stray dogs, foxes, and jackals affected about one third of the nests.
Hatching of the nests was also duly recorded. The highlight of this year’s season was an exceptional nest with 118 tiny hatchlings, which in subsequent days, successfully made it to the water.
The monitoring team also recorded reproductive activity on neighbouring beaches, where additional nests were found, many of them unfortunately predated by jackals. These observations help provide a more complete picture of the population dynamics in the wider area.
“Protecting sea turtle nests at Romanos beach is not only about safeguarding the hatchlings that reach the water each summer”, says Kostas. “It is about securing the future of a species whose long term survival depends on the collective effort of people.”
One of the most environmentally committed tourism enterprises in Greece, COSTA NAVARINO is actively supporting the ARCHELON Romanos Project. As the 2025 nesting season comes to an end, our commitment to conservation remains as strong as ever.
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