Two Ambassadors join their forces for ARCHELON
Sicily Fiennes, ARCHELON volunteer since 2015
“I’ve been lucky enough to volunteer for ARCHELON these past 2 summers and I hope for many more;
There’s nothing like the sand between your toes, the smell of dinner when you’re irrationally hungry or the thrill of a turtle crawling up the beach in the dead of the night.
However, what I’m particularly interested in is how this translates back to daily life. Conservation is made great by those which strive for their causes and truths, in relation to certain habitats or keystone species, such as the loggerhead turtle or Caretta caretta. A fellow volunteer once told me that the people who nourished the project were what made conservation so enjoyable.
For me, that has turned out to be wholly true. As a result, I decided to enroll in ARCHELON‘s ambassador program, in order to promote a small, grassroots organization and to do something more unknown and challenging. I was told about ARCHELON by my Biology teacher at school who had gone in its earlier years and he still shares the online posts and maintains a strong interest in sea turtle conservation after 34 amount of years and it’s opened so many doors for me since our conversation a few years back.
Doing my first presentation, eager and chirpy, at UCL in London, where I study Biodiversity and Conservation, I began my talk of carefully chosen photos, equipped with a few nerdy turtle jokes. No one seemed particularly engaged outside of the large group of dedicated friends I had enlisted to come. A few asked intelligent questions. Of the couple of people who were stimulated to actually volunteer, I know they will smash it this season in any project, and carry on this chain of knowledge, which connects people of all backgrounds through their common love of the Caretta caretta.
If you ever have the chance to go to any ARCHELON talk, I’d highly recommend it as you won’t regret it. This serves as a reminder that small, collective action can help protect a subpopulation of just 1 endangered species but teamwork makes the dream work!!”
Lydia Koutrouditsou, ARCHELON volunteer since 2014
“Being an ARCHELON volunteer, and as a Biology student at the University of Patras, I presented the work of the Society and its volunteer programs to my class. The class’s main topic is Greece’s fauna and more exclusively Greek amphibians, reptiles and mammals was attended by 3rd-4th year students.
The presentation was intended to show how the students are able to volunteer at ARCHELON and gain field experience themselves but also help in the protection of the sea turtle and its ecosystem in our country.
My fellow students showed great interest and 5 persons afterwards approached me for volunteering either at our summer field projects or at the Sea Turtle Rescue Centre.”
Lydia is an active member of ours since she has been taking part in Zakynthos program each year since 2014. She is in honor of being the first ARCHELON Ambassador in Greece and helping us any chance given.
Sicily, as well, after two vigorous years of volunteering has decided to deepen her contribution to the Society when this year she became part of ARCHELON’s dynamic Ambassador Group.
ARCHELON Ambassadors, such as Sicily and Lydia, assist in our enormous efforts of making the dream reality each year for the monitoring and protection of sea turtles and their habitats.
Take a look at the presentations given to their universities, UCL, in London and University of Patras accordingly.
Thank you very much Sicily and Lydia and all the volunteers for helping us all these years!
For further information/applications about volunteering at ARCHELON: volunteers@archelon.gr
Students of the Peloponnese learn about ARCHELON and the marine environment
The first nest of Caretta- Caretta in Zakynthos!
RECENT NEWS
- OUR NEWS27/09/2023
World Tourism Day 2023: Are there sea turtle-friendly hotels in north Crete?
But why is tourism important to sea turtles?
- 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…