Only 1 of every 1.000 sea turtles get to be adults in their firsts months of lives

The Palma Aquarium Foundation, followed by the Councilor of Agriculture, Fisheries and Natural Environment, the Oceanographic of Valencia and the CRAM of Catalonia, will participate in the project “InGeNi-Caretta” to evaluate the techniques that they use to take care of the hatchling sea turtles in the centers of care of the programme Head Starting.

In total 120 sea turtles are part of this experiment of which 12 are found in the facilities of Palma Aquarium and another 35 at the IRFAP-LIMIA, that depends of the Councilor of Agriculture, Fisheries and Natural Environment.

It is estimated that only 1 in 1,000 sea turtles reach adulthood in their first months of life. Head-starting programmes are a conservation tool based on rearing hatchlings under controlled conditions for a year until they reach a size that allows them to be tagged with an identification chip or even a satellite transmitter. The scientific information obtained through the head-starting programme will be of vital importance to improve management plans for the species. Subsequently, they will be released into their natural habitat, where their survival will also be improved.

When the eggs hatched, the hatchlings weighed approximately 15 grams and measured approximately 4 cm in straight carapace length. By the time they are ready to return to the sea, they are expected to weigh 1 kg and measure approximately 20 cm in straight carapace length.

 InGeNi-Caretta is a multidisciplinary project with a research team composed of leading sea turtle experts with the aim of acquiring the scientific knowledge necessary to better understand the colonization of Caretta caretta sea turtles in the western Mediterranean in order to facilitate their conservation management. This knowledge will help to ensure the viability of hatchlings during the programme, their full health status at the time of release, and how these programmes may influence the dispersal and survival of juveniles.

With the aim of observing differences in the hatchlings from the same nest in different incubation conditions (on the beach and in incubators), an experimental design has been agreed upon at the Oceanogràfic of Valencia, the CRAM, the IRFAP-LIMIA, which depends on the Regional Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and the Natural Environment, and the Palma Aquarium in order to adapt the characteristics, resources and potential of each center

To carry it out, a common database has been created with the different centers and at the end of the project the parameters of growth, survival and physical fitness of the hatchlings will be analyzed and the suitability of the turtle nest management techniques on the Spanish Mediterranean coast will be evaluated.

The hatchlings participating in the study belong to the nests of Can Pere Antoni (Mallorca), Cala Millor (Mallorca), Serrallo (Tarragona), Begur (Girona), Coma-ruga (Tarragona) that have been produced during the nesting events of this summer 2023 in Spain.