Through the Rescue Network, ARCHELON’s volunteers take care of 15 sea turtles entangled to fishing nets on average every year. Last August, however, the Zakynthos team was surprised to observe a loggerhead laying her nest on Kalamaki beach, with her front flipper tightly wrapped in a fishing net. This is adding to the evidence of the impacts of abandoned fishing nets in the Mediterranean on sea turtles.
 

Twenty “turtlers” responded to this call, reached mountain Tymphristos, a 4- hour- drive from Athens, and gathered in the mountain shelter Velouchi (1850 m. alt) on 1-3 November. You could argue that the place was too far from sea turtles. That’s right – we wanted it to be far enough from the beach and we succeeded!

In less than 100 km of sandy beaches in Greece, one can find almost 50% of the loggerhead nests laid in the Mediterranean. The fate of these eggs and nests rests with human vigilance. Unless they are protected, the population of the loggerhead in the Mediterranean will drop sharply within a few years.

Upon completion of the ARCHELON program for 2019 in the Kyparissia Bay, the annual report for the region is now published.
 

This short report, submitted to the European Commission, the Standing Committee of Bern Convention and the Ministry of Environment and Energy presents the main events in the efforts to protect the Loggerhead Sea Turtles in the National Marine Park of Zakynthos.
 

ARCHELON has published the call for field leaders for 2020 and the application deadline is 9 January 2020. “We understand that many of the people interested to become field leaders and spend from 3 to 6 months on the beaches, need to plan early” says Reggina Stefanatou, the Project Coordinator of ARCHELON, who is responsible for their selection.
 

A dedicated team of ARCHELON volunteers participated in the children's festival P100-Planet Technopolis with great success! Meanwhile, ARCHELON's educational programs for the new school year have already begun at the Rescue Centre.
 

We are sad to report that once more the touristic attraction of “turtle spotting” was fatal for a male loggerhead turtle resident in the area, which had been tagged and photographed by ARCHELON and was also known by the name “Hercules”.

No doubt you have noticed the ease, with which sometimes we refer to specific sea turtles. It seems natural to give the turtles names in the Rescue Centre, but what about who is who at sea? The answer lies with the “tagging” processes that are in use in ARCHELON projects and also worldwide.
 

It was the 29th of July and the public awareness team of Lakonikos bay project had set up an info table in Limeni during the “Ocean Man” sport event. One of the swimmers there approached the volunteers and reported the sighting of an injured sea turtle in the area.

Thanks to a notice received from a local enterprise in Kalamaki, Messara Bay, on July 22, 2019, the team of ARCHELON confirmed that the Green turtle (Chelonia mydas) also nests on Crete.
 

Greece hosts about 90% of the nests of the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) in the EU every summer and bears a unique responsibility amongst the EU member States for the conservation of this species. The awareness of the threats that sea turtles face in the Mediterranean led ARCHELON, the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece, to the establishment of ARCHELON’s Sea Turtle Rescue Center, 25 years ago. The Centre is one of the many places where young people can volunteer through via European Solidarity Corps (former European Voluntary Service (EVS) program).
 

Jo has been a remarkable leader for the public awareness activity in the Zakynthos project for a number of years. She has trained many volunteers, has given hundreds of presentations herself and has help a great deal in raising funds for the project.

The enthusiasm of the project team of Lakonikos was cut short, from the increased number of strandings of dead and injured turtles in the area. The incidents were reported by residents, visitors and the volunteers themselves. Big thanks to the people who spotted and informed ARCHELON about these strandings.
 

The information table of ARCHELON operated during the afternoons of the weekend from 7/6 to 9/6, together with several other nature related organizations.