There was tremendus excitement on Saturday when a tiny baby loggerhead turtle was found on a beach in Calnegre, Lorca, indicating the presence of a nest somewhere in the area.
In recent years there have been increased incidences of loggerheads laying on Mediterranean beaches in Spain and this year the Fundación Azul Marino has reported the discovery of nine turtle nests in Spain, four of them in Catalonia.
Here in Murcia there was one unsuccessful attempt at laying in La Manga on July 4th and a successful second attempt on July 23rd in la Manga, which ended successfully with the laying of 100 eggs, due to hatch sometime this week. At the moment the nest has been re-located and the eggs re-buried, the nest site sealed off and a guard mounted. Cameras are trained onto the site and it is hoped that once the eggs do begin to hatch, the event will be broadcast live on social media so that the historic hatching in la Manga del Mar Menor can be shared amongst as many people as possible.
Only one in a thousand loggerheads will reach adulthood and as numbers dwindle due to human fishing practices, outboard motors killing turtles, and the debris of human activity which fills the sea with plastic and rubbish increasingly reducing the lifespan of loggerheads, environmentalists are increasingly working to protect nests and try to rear baby loggerheads to around one kilo before releasing them into the wild in an attempt to increase the odds of their survival.
Adult turtles do arrive in the recovery centres run by regional governments right along the Mediterranean coastline and are given every chance to survive back in the wild before being released. If you find this topic as of much joy and positivity as the Ed. does personally, read about the successful release of the "Colomera turtle" and her 3,000 kilometre journey to the Greek Islands this summer.
This lone turtle indicates that there is a nest somewhere along this stretch of the Lorca coastline which hadn´t been previously detected and volunteers from the General Directorate of Natural Environment and the NaturActúa association scoured the area searching for the original nest site, but without success.
A team from the Recovery Center of the Wildlife Rescue centre of ‘El Valle’ travelled to the area to collect the youngster, which was initially taken to its facilities on the outskirts of Murcia for assessment.
Image 2: Fundación CRAM. A tiny newborn heading for the sea in Catalonia
The tiny little turtle weighs just over 14 grams and once it has been given a thorough checkover and was found to be in perfect condition, it was taken to the IMIDA facilities
in San Pedro del Pinatar, where the specimens born last summer were reared, to give the best opportunity to reach the adequate weight which will allow it to survive in the natural environment, which is around a kilo.
The youngster will be fed with a “fish porridge” for the first few weeks before moving on to single fish.
The cost of all of these actions is borne by the Operational Feder Región de Murcia 2014-2020 programme.
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