The reduction of human disturbances from nesting beaches during 2020 has eased the egg-laying of sea turtles, but who can forget the race for turtles performed by ‘turtle spotting’ boats during the last years in Laganas bay? Tourist and sea turtle interactions at sea need to be better regulated in the National Marine Park.

Sooner or later all the electronic and electric devices we are using will be discarded due to early replacement or defects. That is a large volume of waste which poses environmental risks due to hazardous substances. Is art a solution?

This year's festivities will be unforgettable for many reasons. Let us add to them at least one reason that will fill us with joy every time we think of it: an adoption at ARCHELON. An original present with special value and strong symbolism.

Elsa, a young artist from France and Noemie, a young lady from Luxembourg, share their favorite moments, memories and experiences while dedicating their time working at ARCHELON’s Sea Turtle Rescue Centre in Athens, Greece.

ARCHELON needs you! We are asking all volunteers, their friends, their kids, nieces and nephews, even grand kids to help us. With your own inspiration and imagination we will create a fun+ adventure video that will be shot at the Rescue Center. It is our antidote to the pandemic!

Applications for participation of volunteers and field leaders for the projects in 2021 are now accepted! Despite the adversity we are experiencing, we are determined to continue with ARCHELON’s projects in the best possible way in the New Year! We need enthusiastic volunteers to record and protect sea turtles, their nests, and turtles on nesting beaches, and to continue rescuing and treating injured or sick turtles at the Rescue Center.

It all started when “our” Megan McFarlane found out that The Fair Earth Foundation, a registered UK charity, runs in the first week of every month a special challenge to climb Mt Teide. El Teide is located in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, and it’s the third highest volcano in the world.

A loggerhead sea turtle observed by ARCHELON to nest in Zakynthos in 2018 and 2019 was transferred exhausted to the Tunisian Sea Turtle Rescue Center in 2020. Annual reproduction implies a high energy toll for sea turtles.

There are many mysteries of sea turtles and their life in the sea remaining to be solved. An example is male sea turtles which are less studied than the females and their behavior is not well known. Do they inhabit the same habitats as those of females? To what extend do they reside in other areas that would benefit from conservation?

The Italian marine species protection organization DelTA contacted us after finding a dead loggerhead in the Gulf of Trieste and it turned out it was M8153, one of the oldest that have been marked in ARCHELON’s projects.

We placed the temperature logs in the beginning of the summer and now, after all hatchlings had left, we came back to collect them.

Restrictions on international travel and measures to prevent the spread of COVID19 have resulted in the cancellation of the participation of most volunteers in ARCHELON’s summer projects of this year. The self-financing of ARCHELON's activities on Zakynthos would not be possible. That is why we submitted an application for financing to the Green Fund of the Ministry of Environment and Energy, which was approved.

Knowing the ecological sensitivity of residents and visitors who support the work of ARCHELON every summer since 1994, we appeal to them for reducing light pollution by turning off or shading the municipal and private artificial lights that shine on the beach, after 11pm each night.
 

Now that Greece has opened up for people from many countries, we want to make sure that the teams will continue to remain safe from COVID-19 until the end of the projects. That is why we have come to take the following decision...

“The invitation came in February 2016 and it is still my current affiliation with the Society. I work with people I appreciate, contributing to the efforts of hundreds of volunteers who collect data every year on the beaches, aiming to protect our common environment”