– CARM
A total of 49 loggerhead turtles have emerged from the eggs deposited in the nest located in the Calblanque Regional Park, the first of this species to be found this season in the Region of Murcia, while another four hatched at the El Valle Wildlife Recovery Centre (CRFS).
The first two hatched in the early hours of 25 August, at 2 a.m., and after 52 days of incubation, while the other 47 came to the surface in stages over 48 hours in the regional park, according to sources from the Community in a press release.
All the turtles were transferred to the CRFS for inspection, weighing (between 17 and 19 grams each) and tagging. The next step, as explained by the Director General for the Natural Environment, María Cruz Ferreira, is «to take the 53 turtles to the Murcian Institute for Agricultural and Environmental Research and Development (IMIDA) in San Pedro del Pinatar, where the Autonomous Community has facilities dedicated to marine aquaculture research».
Subsequently, and to ensure its better evolution, part of it will be transferred to the Oceanogràfic in Valencia.
From that moment on, they have become part of the ‘headstaring’ programme, which consists of breeding them in captivity and in controlled conditions, in order to achieve a weight that reduces the risk of predation that this species has during its first year of life. After the year, the specimens will be released, specifically on Isla Plana, in the municipality of Cartagena, the beach where they nested.
These specimens were born from the nest laid by the ‘Borgia’ turtle on the 4th of July on Isla Plana, but it was decided to transfer them to the Calblanque Regional Park, as the substrate of the beach and its proximity to the water could make it impossible for the incubation to develop properly, and it was not possible to transfer them to the beach itself.
«It should be noted that the member associations of the Community’s ‘Territorio Tortuga’ volunteer network had the opportunity to attend the hatchling emergency on Calblanque beach. Their collaboration has always been fundamental», specified Ferreira.
This year has been an exceptional season for the loggerhead turtle, with the detection of 26 nests on the Spanish Mediterranean coasts, two of them in the Region, this being the fourth nest found in regional territory.
Since 2019, nests have been located in Cala Arturo, within the Calblanque Regional Park and the municipality of Cartagena (28 July 2019); Residencial Oasis, in La Manga del Mar Menor and the municipality of San Javier (23 July 2020); and Cala Honda, in the Cabo Cope and Puntas de Calnegre Regional Park, in the municipality of Lorca (4 September 2020).
Of the turtles hatched in the nests located (21 from Cala Arturo, 47 from La Manga and four from Cala Honda), and after using the ‘headstarting’ technique, a total of 67 turtles over one year of age were reintroduced into the environment, specifically 21 from the Cala Arturo nest, 42 from the nest in La Manga del Mar Menor and four from the Cala Honda nest, with only five deaths.
The actions of ‘Territorio Tortuga’ are carried out under the Operational Programme FEDER Region of Murcia 2014-2020.