January

• The Sea Turtle Rescue Centre in Glyfada, Athens was already quite busy on the first month of the year with 6 arrivals of injured and sick loggerhead turtles.

• On January 20th and 21st, ARCHELON hosted at the Sea Turtle Rescue Centre in Glyfada, the 2nd Workshop "Creating a Cooperation Network of Organizations Active in the Care of Wild Animals in Greece". This project is implemented within the framework of the Active Citizens Fund program, which is part of the financial mechanism of the European Economic Area (EEA), and has as its vision to promote closer and more effective cooperation between the organizations involved in the care of wild animals in Greece. There with other wildlife organizations, we discussed various common concerns and attended interesting talks on wildlife welfare and rehabilitation.

February

• Have you ever wondered what is going on in one of ARCHELON’s Sea Turtle Protection projects? We got a taste of the life of an ARCHELON volunteer at the Rethymno Project with the new short film by EyeQ Productions. What will you do this summer? Is it your turn to save the sea turtles? Watch the movie and learn more about ARCHELON’s sea turtle protection projects here.

• Knowledge and experience regarding the treatment and care of injured and sick sea turtles is increasing worldwide. This led to a workshop on February 11th and 12th on modern methods of rescue and care for sea turtles. The workshop was hosted by ARCHELON and the help of Wildlife Vets International, a non-profit organization from Britain, which has been supporting ARCHELON with educational visits from specialized scientists, as well as with medical and pharmaceutical material since 2019.

• On February 20, we got together at Impact Hub in Athens for the Presentation of the Results of the 2022 actions! After two years of online presentations due to the pandemic, we finally managed to meet the friends and members of ARCHELON in person.

March

We welcomed ‘Tortellini’ at the Sea Turtle Rescue Centre in Athens, another case of a sea turtle with a severe carapace injury caused by a boat propeller.

April

The Field Leaders got ready for the new turtle season and attended the online training seminar on April 25-28 before they arrived at the nesting beaches.

Are you an experienced volunteer? Come back to the sea turtle conservation as a leader! Read all about it here!

May

• On the 5th of May, we waved goodbye to the Project Managers and the Field leaders for the nesting beaches!

• On Saturday, May 27, the ARCHELON Sea Turtle Rescue Centre looked different from all other days of the year because it welcomed hundreds of young and old visitors for the Turtle Festival 2023!

June

On June 9th, the Kastoria Environmental Protection Society hosted the closing event of the project "Collaboration Network of Organizations Active in the Care of Wild Animals in Greece". As part of the event, the members of the Network agreed and signed a code of conduct about the care, welfare, and reintegration of wild animals they care for. It is worth looking back on what Daphne Mavrogiorgos, the Director of ARCHELON said about the Project coming to an end. “The project is completed, but our alliance does not stop here. The organizations that are members of the network will continue the cooperation in the next period because there are still issues that we need to work on and discuss."

July

On the 4th and 5th of July 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 in collaboration with ARCHELON. The partners, which are NGOS and regional organizations that work for sea turtle conservation across the Mediterranean, informed each other about their activities and plans and agreed on specific actions to sustain the partnership and the conservation activities around the Mediterranean.

August

• World record of reproductive life for a loggerhead sea turtle in Zakynthos! The lucky turtle, first spotted in Zakynthos in 1986 and given the name Gaia, was once again recorded by ARCHELON's trained researchers/volunteers nesting on Sekania beach in Zakynthos this year, thus confirming a full 37 years of reproductive activity.
• The European Commission arrived at the Sea Turtle Rescue Centre in Glyfada and at Kyparissia Bay to learn more about the conservation of sea turtles in the Mediterranean. Watch the whole episode [here](https://www.euronews.com/green/2023/08/29/saving-lives-in-the-mediterranean-one-turtle-or-dolphin-at-a-time?fbclid=IwAR2yjqxFbbXT5uXDICAiW7Rn4R84L6X3s6lUvZ8QLOpti6eq0cBU12vRIWM

September

• The ARCHELON Rescue Centre welcomed once again our small friends with the beginning of the new school year.
• After 3 years of rehabilitation the moment of Lilo’s release arrived. He was transported to a quiet beach in Attica, where the ARCHELON team said goodbye to him. Lilo, with quick splashes, had finally returned to his home, the sea… Watch Lilo’s release back to the sea here.

October

Another successful reproductive season for sea turtles has come to an end and the Project Managers, Field Leaders and volunteers of ARCHELON packed up the research stations from the nesting beaches and returned to the Rescue Centre.

November

On November 8th ARCHELON celebrated 40 years of action at the Benaki Museum in Athens! Watch the whole video here and read more about it here 2023 ended with warm messages from the turtle community, friends, and supporters. We hope that the new year will bring alliances between organizations, better management in the protected areas and the will to contribute.

Happy new year!