When a turtle is about to lay eggs, it returns to the same beach it was hatched on. Here, like a baby, it dug itself out of the sand and embarked on the scary journey of crawling across the beach and into the waves. Because a turtle always returns home, it is a problem if it returns to find its childhood beach filled with tourists, umbrellas, beach chairs and plastic trash. That is the case in many places in the world, where the coveted coastlines are exploited by humans to the fullest – but not on the Greek island of Zakynthos. Here, WWF in Greece chose to buy the land behind the 550-metre-long Sekania beach in 1994. This means that the turtles that were hatched here themselves can return and build nests in peace. The effort has worked. This summer there was a record high number of nests of the so-called loggerhead turtle, which breeds here – a total of 1,201 nests. – It really is a good feeling, says Charikleia Minotou. She is project manager at WWF in Greece, specifically for Sekania beach, protection of the loggerhead turtles and the natural area on Zakynthos. She says that this year a total of 2,365 nests were counted in the entire area. – We have six different beaches where they build nests in the bay. Sekania is one of the six beaches, and here we have more than 50 percent of the total nests. It is only 550 meters long, so that means that for every 50 centimeters there is one nest, she says. Each nest has about 120 eggs, so it’s “a fantastic number”, as Charikleia Minotou says. A hundred-million-year-old species The loggerhead turtle is one of seven different turtle species, which have existed on earth – and in the sea – for a hundred million years, side by side with the dinosaurs. The turtles live in the Mediterranean, and over half of the species breed on beaches in the Greek archipelago. One of the places where the turtles lay their eggs is on the island of Zakynthos. – At the end of the 80s, suddenly a lot more tourists came to the area. It was at that time that various NGOs, especially WWF, saw that there was a need to protect these areas and habitats, where the turtles come and make nests, says Charikleia Minotou. Therefore, work began to collect money from all over Europe to buy the area around the beach – and according to Charikleia Minotou, nothing like this has happened in Greece before. – It was a big campaign, and it is not common to buy land solely to protect it. But it was the only way to save it, and to secure it for the future, she says. Today, Sekania beach is only used for scientific research, i.e. not for bathing guests. – So we have worked for more than three decades to ensure that the conditions remain the same, says Charikleia Minotou. In other words, that we avoid that the turtles do not have a place to build nests. A few years after Sekania beach was acquired, the Marine National Park of Zakynthos was created in 1999. It covers both part of the sea outside the island, and several of the beaches where the turtles breed. Here, among other things, it is illegal to sail with boats and to fish. On the beaches you cannot dig, set up parasols close to the sea or stay between sunset and sunrise. Plastic, climate change and too many tourists The turtle is vulnerable on the IUCN’s international red list of threatened species, and worldwide the population is declining. According to the WWF, there are many different threats to the swimming animals: Climate change, plastic pollution in the oceans, oil drilling on the seabed, forest fires and erosion, so that the beaches are eaten by the sea, or that soil and clay mix with the fine sand so that the animals are unable to dig nests. But the tourists also threaten the turtles. – Last year we had 1,500,000 tourists in the area, who all want to use the same beaches where the turtles build their nests. The tourist period is from May to October, and the nesting period for the turtles is from May to October, says Charikleia Minotou. Some of the threats are easier to deal with than others. During the nesting period, WWF Greece has guards, who walk around the area and tell people who come to Sekania beach to turn around. But WWF also has new technology in use: cameras and microphones. With them, you can monitor whether uninvited guests arrive and warn them over the loudspeaker system. Rubbish is also collected on the beaches, and the surrounding nature is taken care of. And if you ask Charikleia Minotou, it suggests that the three decades of work have led to better living conditions for the turtles today. – The numbers we see now are very likely a result of the good work that we, not only WWF, but also other organizations and the marine national park, the volunteers, the employees, all of us, did decades ago, she says . – Now we have a remarkable population, and we have seen a record number of nests. It’s impressive, it’s a good feeling.
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Greek turtles are laying eggs like never before
