The weather has now become really warm out here in Crete and the beaches are very popular places to be...and that includes for the turtles too!
We now have 8 nests found and protected by small cages in an attempt to stop any damage to the nest and eggs. Unfortunately there seems to be a few people who do not read the signs attached and we are having cages moved on an almost daily basis. We hope it is not wanton vandalism, but rather a little bit of ignorance on the part of the people moving them. We have been informed that it is not just our area that has this problem, and it appears that sunbathers/swimmers use them as 'clothes horses' to air their clothes, without realising what they are doing.
Please, if you see anyone tampering with a cage on the beach, please politely ask them not to move it. If they still insist then please contact ARCHELON and inform them of the matter.
On a better and more uplifting note, we have now shaded the first of our nests and the second will be needing shading on Tuesday 29th July. Shading is done to try and help direct the hatchlings as they emerge from the nest to go to the sea. Any light from inland may confuse and disorient them, so the shading stretches down the beach towards the shoreline to give them a fighting chance of reaching the sea.
As it is getting close to hatching time, a quick word of caution...if you do see a hatchling when out on the beach, please do not pick it up and take it to the sea, even if it appears to be struggling. The young turtles need to walk between the nest and the sea in order to build up the muscles in their lungs and flippers. If you were to take a hatchling direct from the nest and put it in the water, it would drown. If it is struggling then you can sprinkle some sea-water over the top of it, this is normally enough to give it a burst of energy and you will get the joys of watching a sea-turtle begin it's fantastic journey of life.
We now have 8 nests found and protected by small cages in an attempt to stop any damage to the nest and eggs. Unfortunately there seems to be a few people who do not read the signs attached and we are having cages moved on an almost daily basis. We hope it is not wanton vandalism, but rather a little bit of ignorance on the part of the people moving them. We have been informed that it is not just our area that has this problem, and it appears that sunbathers/swimmers use them as 'clothes horses' to air their clothes, without realising what they are doing.
Please, if you see anyone tampering with a cage on the beach, please politely ask them not to move it. If they still insist then please contact ARCHELON and inform them of the matter.
On a better and more uplifting note, we have now shaded the first of our nests and the second will be needing shading on Tuesday 29th July. Shading is done to try and help direct the hatchlings as they emerge from the nest to go to the sea. Any light from inland may confuse and disorient them, so the shading stretches down the beach towards the shoreline to give them a fighting chance of reaching the sea.
As it is getting close to hatching time, a quick word of caution...if you do see a hatchling when out on the beach, please do not pick it up and take it to the sea, even if it appears to be struggling. The young turtles need to walk between the nest and the sea in order to build up the muscles in their lungs and flippers. If you were to take a hatchling direct from the nest and put it in the water, it would drown. If it is struggling then you can sprinkle some sea-water over the top of it, this is normally enough to give it a burst of energy and you will get the joys of watching a sea-turtle begin it's fantastic journey of life.