At the beaches of Cala Millor and Es Cavallet 47 marine turtles born in Balearic Islands were freed

The Regional Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and the Natural Environment has released 47 sea turtles hatched last summer in the Balearic Islands into the sea.A total of 28 turtles were released on the beach of Es Cavallet, in Ses Salines natural park in Ibiza and Formentera, from the nests of Santa Eulària des Riu and Ses Salines beach, and at the same time, 19 turtles were released on the beach of Cala Millor,in Mallorca, which were born in the nest that took place on the same beach in July.

It should be remembered that the five nests that were registered this summer in the Balearic Islands, with a total of 413 eggs, were born 195 offsprings.

The council of Agriculture, Fisheries and Natural Environment, Joan Simonet, has participated in the liberation of the turtles which was done at the beach of Cala Millor, accompanied by the mayor of Sant Llorenç, Jaume Soler; Agents of the Environment, staff of the Cofib and the Foundation of Palma Aquarium, as well as the team of volunteers who guarded the nest at the time of birth.

Simonet pointed out that "we are all responsible for the conservation of the marine environment". For this reason, he stressed the "importance of collaborating" with state programmes for the protection of sea turtles.

In this sense, he stated that the contribution "helps to identify problems and to know the state of the populations, with the aim of implementing the necessary management and conservation actions".

With agreement with the programme ‘Head Starting’, the return of these specimens to their natural habitat should have taken place next summer, when the turtles would have weighed more than one kilogramme. However, the Regional Ministry has explained that as a first action it has decided to release 46 turtles that already weigh around 70 grams, five times more than the weight they had at birth. 

The rest of the specimens, a total of 145 turtles born in the archipelago this season, are part of the 'Head Starting' project, which consists of a breeding programme in a controlled artificial environment for ten and 12 months where the animals are fed simulating the changes they would experience in the wild.

The sea turtle nesting season of 2023 began with the first nest registered in Mallorca on the 6th of June on the beach of Can Pere Antoni. The next nests were produced a month later on Cala Millor beach, followed by nests in Es Figueral, Santa Eulària des Riu and Ses Salines, in Ibiza. In addition, during the season several adult turtles have been recorded attempting to nest on other beaches of the Balearic archipelago without success, such as on the beach of Cala Tuent or Cala Domingos, in Mallorca.

The marine turtle Caretta caretta is a species cataloged as vulnerable in the Catálogo Español de Especies Amenazadas, which is normally reproduced in the Eastern Mediterranean and that it was not until the beginning of the 21st century that it began to nest in the Western Mediterranean, most probably due to the increase in sea temperature.

We therefore call for the maximum cooperation from all citizens, as early detection of nests, nesting females or hatchlings on the beach between May and October is of vital importance for the species.

Precisely, this month in October and after a storm, there was found the remains of a hatched clutch (19 open eggs) in the beach of Can Pastilla, that increases a minimum of six nests detected at the Balearic Islands this year.

The Council reminds that in any case of detecting any of these situations it is very important to warn immediately to 112 to activate the protocol of attention and to be able to obtain data.