WORLD TURTLE DAY - May 23
Sea turtles are one of the largest reptiles on Earth and are one of the oldest living organisms on our planet. They are found all over the world, but they respond mainly to temperatures and tropical waters. Like other reptiles, they are thermal variants, meaning they use ambient heat as the main source of regulating their body heat.
On the beaches of Cyprus, we are lucky enough to have two species of sea turtles reproduce, the Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas) and the Caretta caretta), while rarely found in our seas and the giant dermochelys coriacea, but not breeding on our shores. It is worth noting that, while the Carretta gives birth in Greece and other Mediterranean countries, the Green turtle gives birth almost exclusively in Cyprus and Turkey.
In recent years there has been a general increase in nesting of sea turtles and especially the Carretta turtle. It must be noted, however, that this increase is the result of their protective measures that began 20-25 years ago and that they continue to exist. For this reason sea turtles and their eggs are protected by the Fisheries Law Law (KEF. 135) and Regulations 1990 (Reg. No. 273/90) from 1971 and the protection of their habitat in the area of Lara-Tokeytra has been ensured since 1989, with the administrative measures presented in the Regulations of the Law itself.
On the occasion of celebrating World Turtle Day, our Department would like to inform the public that the breeding season of sea turtles (Caretta caretta and Chelonia mydas) on our shores, has already commenced.
The life cycle of sea turtles is closely linked to land, since every year during the summer adult females come out of the sea at night to lay their eggs on the beaches.
Sea turtles come out to beaches quietly and without light to lay their eggs. Often they are forced because of human presence to abandon this effort and lay their eggs in the sea, destroying them.
It is indeed great the excitement caused by the presence of these species, and we understand that the intense feelings of joy upon spotting a giving birth sea turtle can cause actions that will inadvertently have negative consequences for the species. Audio-visual recording with the use of a light source or any other nuisance causes a lot of stress to the sea turtle and can completely abandon trying or lay the eggs and run away without covering them properly.
We therefore ask the public to refrain from taking any actions such as those mentioned above that could have adverse effects in efforts to protect the sea turtles that respond to our seas.
Photographic material: Alexandros Papandreou, Giannis Ioannou, Kostas Konstantinou
