Universidade do Algarve

The UNIVERSITY OF ALGARVE has been involved in sea turtle research and conservation activities since 1998.
First through the efforts of the Algarve Marine Sciences Centre, CCMAR (http://assemblemarine.org/algarve-marine-sciences-centre-faro/, http://www.ccmar.ualg.pt/home/), and recently joined by other research groups of the same university, also working with sea turtles.
For instance Programa SADA, also registered here as a group is a sea turtle programme of the University of Algarve with an identity on its own as it is a consortium involving several other institutions (for more information go to http://www.seaturtle.org/groups/index.shtml?view=111).
So far, work on sea turtle biology and conservation by members of the University of Algarve has been conducted both in the Atlantic Ocean and in the Indian Ocean, and in collaboration with local governments and universities.

Five sea turtle species occur in Portuguese and Spanish waters, off mainland Iberia. These are: Caretta caretta, Chelonia mydas, Eretmochelys imbricata, Lepidochelys kempii, and Dermochelys coriacea. At least C. caretta used to nest, during summer, at least on sandy beaches of the Atlantic coast of Southern Iberia. But past unsustainable coastal development and extensive turtle hunting for meat led to the end of this nesting population. In summer 2010, the Junta de Andalucia (Spain) transferred eggs of C. caretta to one of the beaches of the Donana National Park (Southern Spain). They were naturally incubated in the sandy beach, and in September 2010, 60 loggerhead hatchlings reached the sea. This was a simple experiment which proved successful, and may be implemented in other beaches of Andalucia (Spain) and Algarve (Portugal).

Working with sea turtles since 1998