Turtle campaign

Anna Ellis ELCHE has now signed up for the Oceanographic Foundation’s Turtles in the Mediterranean campaign whose objective is to inform the public about how to act in the presence of a sea turtle.

This awareness campaign consists of placing more than 1,700 posters in the towns of the Valencian Community, Murcia, the Balearic Islands and Andalucia, as well as on the Valencia Metro, Alicante Tram and around beaches and bathing areas.

The posters will inform travellers of the presence of sea turtles on the Mediterranean coast and that, in the event of a sighting, it is necessary to call 112.

In the case of the Valencian Community, the Oceanographic Foundation rescue team is in charge of travelling to the area to assess the state of the animal and transfer it, if necessary, to ARCA del Mar, where it recovers until it can return back to the sea.

The dates of the campaign are crucial for the conservation of the species as now is the season in which the nesting takes place, that is to say, the approach to the beach of the females to deposit their eggs in the points they consider suitable. It is absolutely essential that they are not disturbed.

As there has been an increase in nests in recent years and, due to the philopatry of these animals, it is possible that a good number of nestings will be recorded again. In fact, so far this season there have already been four spawnings on the beaches.

Seven different species of sea (or marine) turtles grace our ocean waters, from the shallow seagrass beds of the Indian Ocean to the colourful reefs of the Coral Triangle and the sandy beaches of the Eastern Pacific.

Over the last 200 years, human activities have tipped the scales against the survival of these ancient mariners.

A GANG that specialised in robbing hotel safes in different countries across the European Union have been arrested.

It is believed they were responsible for up to 16 robberies in Spain, two of which occurred in Alicante, according to the National Police on Friday, July 14.

Investigations were conducted with the help of Europol, as the gang oper­