We still need you by our side
We managed to get through last year, and we are still holding on! You were there with us on this difficult course due to the pandemic, and we always want you by our side!
Your help to save the injured turtles at the ARCHELON Sea Turtle Rescue Center in Glyfada is crucial for us to continue our work and overcome the unprecedented challenges caused by the pandemic restrictions.
The need for medicine, equipment, and consumables for the treatment of the injured turtles arriving from all parts of Greece has not ceased to exist, nor have our efforts to care for them. In 2020, 52 turtles were cared for by our specialized Rescue Center staff and ARCHELON volunteers, who were significantly fewer in number due to pandemic-related travel restrictions. Twenty-one turtles were successfully treated and were able to return to their natural environment, 20 are still under treatment, while 11 turtles unfortunately did not survive.
Already in the first three months of 2021, another five turtles have arrived at the Center; some have old or new wounds, and others have ingested hooks and/or plastic.
Since the establishment of the ARCHELON Rescue Center in 1994, more than 1162 sea turtles have been treated there, with 56% of them having recovered and successfully been reintegrated into the sea.
We are very proud of what we have achieved, but since visitors and schools cannot yet come to the Rescue Center because of the pandemic restrictions, our anxiety and financial difficulties are mounting. Each of your donations, especially at this critical time, will have an even greater impact on our joint effort to help these animals.
The physical isolation imposed on us by the restrictive pandemic measures cannot isolate us from the effort to protect Nature and wildlife.
The arrival of spring, with warmer sea temperatures, will allow us soon to begin releasing the turtles who have been successfully treated. Your donation can give them back their freedom, with the hope that our own return to normality from the pandemic conditions will come soon.
Sea Turtles stranding on Greek coasts: The most important causes
The ARCHELON Over & Above Awards for 2020
RECENT NEWS
- OUR NEWS02/05/2024
Sea Turtle Festival for Kids 2024
Save the date! On Saturday 18 May at 11:00, the ARCHELON Rescue Centre opens its doors to welcome young and old sea turtle friends who want to celebrate, explore, learn, play and travel magically in the Mediterranean Sea. We are waiting for you to strengthen our message for a better and sustainable planet!
- OUR NEWS02/05/2024
A successful year for the International Sea Turtle Symposium
The International Sea Turtle Symposium concluded triumphantly this March in Pattaya, Thailand, with ARCHELON actively participating.
- OUR NEWS29/04/2024
A Morning Beach Patrol with ARCHELON
The camera lens of Stefanos and Maria of SteMajourneys caught a rare sight in the early morning: a Loggerhead sea turtle nesting! The volunteers in Chania took action right away to protect the nest.
- OUR NEWS26/04/2024
Protecting sea turtles in Rethymno- Our Ocean, an Ocean of Potential
The 9th International Conference "Our Ocean", which was held in Athens from April 15 to 17, was successfully completed. ARCHELON had the honor to actively take part in the conference and hosted a side event.
- OUR NEWS12/04/2024
Coordination for the protection of sea turtles in Rethymno: Local authorities and tourism businesses join forces
The meeting, which took place on April 5, 2024, in the building of the Regional Unit of Rethymno, touched upon key issues, such as the observance of conservation measures for the protection of the Loggerhead sea turtle. Given the tourist activity on the nesting beaches, the active participation of the tourism sector in the implementation of the measures is necessary.
- OUR NEWS10/04/2024
"Tourists and turtles?" The environmental awareness campaign of ARCHELON spreads to the nesting beaches of the Loggerhead sea turtle
After the pandemic, ARCHELON - the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece - is once again mobilizing on the path to sustainable tourism. The aim of the new campaign is to provide information on the appropriate code of conduct for visitors to all nesting beaches, in cooperation with the tourism sector.
- OUR NEWS04/04/2024
LIFE MareNatura - The largest marine biodiversity program in Greece
- OUR NEWS03/04/2024
Citizens inform us of sea turtle strandings
ARCHELON started the effort to record the incidents of dead turtles washing up on the Greek shores in 1992. In recent years there has been an increase in these records which may be due to more of our fellow citizens reporting such incidents. Learn more…
- OUR NEWS19/03/2024
Contributing to international developments on sea turtle research and conservation
In the past, members of ARCHELON were actively involved in the elaboration of the Global Strategy for the Conservation of Marine Turtles, published in 1995, and nowadays three of our collaborators participate in the writing of the revised guidebook “Research and Management Techniques for the Conservation of Sea Turtles”.
- OUR NEWS08/03/2024
The Over & Above Awards for 2023
These are the ARCHELON Over & Above Awards for 2023.
- OUR NEWS04/03/2024
The moving experience of Frederique at the Rescue Centre
At ARCHELON, you'll have the opportunity to meet and work together with new people and form lasting friendships - a major benefit of volunteering.
- OUR NEWS29/02/2024
Presentation of ARCHELON 2023 Results: Here is some good news!
On Thursday February 15th, 2024, ARCHELON’s annual Presentation of Results took place downtown, at the Impact Hub Athens. When welcoming members, staff, collaborators, friends and volunteers, Daphne Mavrogiorgos, Director of ARCHELON, spoke about the multi-leveled action of ARCHELON during 2023.
- OUR NEWS02/02/2024
Sea turtles in the Greek wetlands of international importance
World Wetlands Day is celebrated every year on February 2. These vulnerable areas of the planet are a refuge for migratory birds and other wildlife species, including sea turtles. ARCHELON is present in wetlands that play an important role for sea turtles, such as the Amvrakikos Gulf.
- OUR NEWS24/01/2024
Why are ARCHELON’s projects international?
ARCHELON’s sea turtle conservation projects are organized with the valuable contribution of volunteers who come to Greece every year not just from Europe but from more distant places such as South Korea, Australia, and Colombia. Speaking English while carrying out fieldwork or public awareness activities as well as when interacting with each other in the campsites is essential to the projects.
- OUR NEWS17/01/2024
ARCHELON has been running a special hospital for sea turtles with tanks and impressive old train wagons for 30 years in Glyfada
Turtles with IV and bandages, rehabilitation and recovery tanks, special environmental enrichment equipment, recovery greenhouses, and… renovated train wagons! The hospital for injured and sick turtles that ARCHELON has set up in the 3rd marina of Glyfada, next to the sea, is certainly something out of the ordinary.