This Sunday a user found the nest of a sea turtle (Caretta caretta) in the Can Pastilla beachin Palma. The notice was given early this Sunday when a total of 109 eggsof which 18 sea turtles have been born.
Following the notice, personnel from the Consortium for the Recovery of Fauna of the Balearic Islands (Cofib), which depends on the General Directorate of Natural Environment and Forest Management, have traveled to the area to confirm the facts, detect the exact point where it was located. the nest and activate the protocol established for these cases. There has also been the collaboration of Palma City Council, the Palma Aquarium Foundation, Local Police and the Lifeguard Service.
In this way, both the neonates and the eggs They have moved to the Cofib facilities to assess their health status and later they will be transferred to the Irfap-Limia facilities, in the Port of Andratx, where the Cofib Marine Fauna department will be in charge of their care and monitoring.
As explained by the COFIB manager, Miquel Puigeverything indicates that this nest that was located this Sunday was laid during the second half of July. Furthermore, he recalled that this sea turtle nest found in Can Pastilla is the first that has been recorded during this season in the Balearic Islands.
The Government demands the maximum collaboration of the entire population to preserve the nests. Well, it is in full season for this species and the months of September and October are time of hatching of nests and birth of young. If you detect new nests and hatchlings of sea turtles, you must immediately notify 112 and under no circumstances touch the animals.
It should be mentioned that these turtles will be part of the Head Starting program, in accordance with the national strategy for the species and in collaboration with other communities. The aforementioned strategy consists of a breeding program in a controlled artificial environment lasting between ten and 12 months. Thanks to this program, the chances of survival of these animals once returned to the sea are exponentially increased. These specimens of sea turtles will be released into the sea once the program period ends.
It should be remembered that the sea turtle Caretta caretta is a species classified as vulnerable in the Spanish Catalog of Endangered Species, which usually reproduces in the eastern Mediterranean and which, it was not until the beginning of the 21st century that it began to nest in the western Mediterranean, most likely due to the increase in sea temperature.
