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Torrevieja and local areas Tuesday, September 29th 2015 - Edition 566
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Loggerhead turtles are born
LAST WEEK the eggs of the first sea turtle nest from Torrevieja, were hatched at the premises of Oceanographic in Valencia. Late in the afternoon of Wednesday, September 16th, several loggerhead turtle eggs (Caretta caretta) were hatched. These came from the nest deposited on the beach of La Mata in Torrevieja on the night of July 31st. These eggs were taken from Torrevieja's La Mata beach on 1st August where they were placed in the incubator of the research department of the Oceanogràfic facility, in order to control the temperature and ensure a certain number of births. The first of those
born in the Oceanogràfic facility was baptised with the name "Chelo" a reference to the taxonomic family "Cheloniidae" which classifies these reptiles. The rest of loggerhead turtle eggs transferred from Torrevieja are now relocated in a nest dug in the Punta beach and are being monitored day and night by volunteers from the Xaloc association, in order to protect new-borns when they emerge and make their way to the surface. In the location of this camp, called Playa Punta II, the area is patrolled by the Third Battalion Emergency Intervention (BIEM III), based in Bétera (Valencia), who have installed a large tent in the area. They are also working the Parador de El Saler area, providing logistical support to the volunteers. The birth of the Torrevieja turtles has occurred just days after releasing another group of small turtles into the sea at Carabassí in Elche, whose nest was deposited on the beach of San Juan de Alicante last summer. After more than a year of being kept and fed in the ARCA Oceanogràfic facility, these specimens have been kept in captivity until
they were a considerably larger size, to greatly reduce their risk to natural predators. Some of these turtles have been fitted with a lightweight device designed by the Polytechnic University of Gandia, in collaboration with the University of Valencia, in order to track them and thus get valuable biological data of where they travel now that they have been deposited back into the sea. To date there have been exactly four of these specially installed devices. One of the turtles is estimated to already be more than 80 km from the coast. The position of the turtles that have been tagged may be followed by those who wish to at: www.seaturtle.org/tracking. Project_id=1143&dyn=1442471908. Sea turtles are seriously threatened by pollution, fisheries and pleasure boats, including other adverse factors. In the case of nests laid in the Spanish Mediterranean beaches, obtaining biological and behavioural data can contribute decisively to the consolidation of these new spawning areas and lay the foundations for proper management.
Torrevieja's Cruise welcome LAST TUESDAY Torrevieja became the latest of Spain's Cruising destinations. With the arrival of the elegant MS Amadea Torrevieja joined the cruise revolution and now that the city has a taste of it, they are looking for more. The good news is that the city will become a cruise destination again in October 2016 as the cruise operator Phoenix Reisen has "ratified and confirmed" that the City of Torrevieja will once again be a chosen port for one of their larger ships, the MS Albatros. The return of the
cruise line to Torrevieja was confirmed by the Councillor of Tourism, Fanny Serrano (PSOE). The premier German Cruise and Travel Company placed Torrevieja on the cruise map for the first time on Tuesday when the MS Amadea anchored in the waters of the city. Approximately 400 of the MS Amadea's cruise passengers disembarked, mostly of German, Austrian and Swiss origin, with the majority remaining in the city for about five hours. "They loved everything ... from the place of receipt of the passengers, the welcoming Tent and the great expectations of the media, because for them this was a major promotion," said Serrano. This arrival, as hosted in Torrevieja last week, was announced last March by the previous government team led by Eduardo Dolon (PP). Shipping Agent Grupo Pérez y Cía managed the logistics of the arrival in coordination with the German shipping company, and they have expressed their willingness to work on the development of new projects related to cruise
tourism. The enthusiasm expressed by the company and the local administration was also shown by Torrevieja's small and medium businesses association, APYMECO plus many members of the hospitality industry, who did a lot of work to make the arrival a success, especially given the short time in which the ship remained in Torrevieja. More information about the occasion and future plans for Torrevieja on Page 8.