World Sea Turtle Day- Caretta nests at our shores

On June 16, World Sea Turtle Day is celebrated, one of the most threatened animals on the planet and in turn one of the longest-lived. In recent years, nests or attempts to lay eggs have been detected in the western Mediterranean, especially on the Catalan coasts, but also in Andalusia, Valencia and the Balearic Islands.

A team of researchers formed by UB and IRBio together with Beta UVic-UCC lead two scientific projects "NIDOS-Caretta" co-financed by the Fundación Biodiversidad (project news) and "COMING" co-financed by the MAVA Foundation (project news) . The objectives of the projects are to conduct scientific studies to understand why nesting episodes have increased, to improve protocols for the management and protection of these nests, and to promote the role of marine protected areas in the coordination and management of these events. The project also includes actions to raise awareness of the different sectors involved in the management of beaches, with special emphasis on the role of citizens in the conservation of the species on the coasts of the country..

The public awareness campaign has begun in the town of Blanes, with the placement of posters on the beaches, where the City Council has launched the news:: https://www.blanes.cat/docweb/2020-06-10-tortuga

There is also a mobile application, Caretta a la Vista (link to the web), to notify as soon as possible the observation of turtles, young and traces that activates the alert on the emergency number 112.


For more information, journalist Juan Carlos Ruiz from "El Navegante" leaves us a very interesting interview with Marta Pascual, IRBio-UB and Elena Abella, UVIC-UCC.
Video:

NIDOS-Caretta project led by IRBio-UB and co-financed by: Fundación Biodiversidad, of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge.

COMIG project led by BETA UVic-UCC and co-funded by MAVA