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The end of the “turtle” season in Zakynthos, also means the completion programme for “ARCHELON”, the Association for the Protection of sea turtles on our island: The representative of the Association, Ms. Nikoletta Sidiropoulou spoke on radio about this summer, during which were recorded over 1,300 nests. Unfortunately, there were also many dead turtles.
According to the data presented by Ms. Sidiropoulou from the beginning of the year until the end of September, 50 situations involving turtles recorded on our island, of which 45 concerned dead turtles.
“Our program in Zakynthos was completed on October 15. This year ARCHELON in collaboration with the Marine Park of Zakynthos and our 80 volunteers from Greece and abroad managed to monitor the sea turtle and contribute to their protection. “More than 1,300 nests were recorded in Zakynthos, which is above the average of previous years but smaller than last year’s record number,” said Ms. Sidiropoulou.
This year there has been an increase in the number of dead turtles: From the beginning of the year until the end of September we had 50 turtle situations, of which 45 were dead turtles and 5 were injured.
“The most serious problem was identified in the first week of July, during which we had a total of 3 incidents in a week in Laganas Bay. The two dead turtles were probably hit by a boat propeller due to the obvious injuries and the third turtle was dead by a deliberate blow by a spear gun “, noted Ms. Sidiropoulou, adding that last year and this year there were a large number of sea turtle deaths throughout Greece. The causes can not yet be assessed, as they may be related to many factors such as increasing the overall population or raising the awareness of citizens who inform the authorities when they detect such phenomena.
For the observance of the measures on the beaches, the representative of the Association noted that this year there were no violations such as trampling on the areas where there were nests, but also a large number of marine equipment on the beaches. However, she made special reference to the sea area and especially to the Gulf of Laganas, noting that more than 300 boats are active.
“There is a need for a study that will predict the carrying capacity of the boats that exist in the Gulf of Laganas,” she stressed once again and added that unfortunately in many cases there was no correct observation rules in regards to turtle watching but it was a case of a “turtle hunt”.
Measures for the correct observation of these creatures are not being observed and there are many violations,” she underlined.
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source:- https://ermisnews.gr
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