Greca

Loggerheads in the Adriatic Sea

A project of Univ. of Pisa and Legambiente.

click map for full-size version After the release on the beach the turtle started to move Southward, following the Eastern coast of Italy a few km offshore. After swimming for several hundreds km along the coast, she crossed the Strait of Otranto moving Southward along the Ionian Islands (Greece). After visiting Levkàs, Ithàki and Cephalonia Islands, the turtle has approached the Peloponnisos coast, precisely Kiparissia Bay, south of Zàkinthos Island, where she has been staying since the beginning of January. The location frequency is now very low propbably for the turtle is in a shallow waters foraging area where she spends diving most part of her time.

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Species: Loggerhead
Life Stage: Adult
Gender: Female
Release Date: 2004-11-03 15:00:00
Release Location: Porto Garibaldi
Last Location: 2005-08-27 13:20:24

Adoptive Parents:
Dallas Zoo Education
Damas Family
Lincoln Palmer
Kim Sumney-Saporito
Roger Southgate

Background

The Northern Adriatic Sea is a very important foraging and overwintering area for a large number of loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta). In these waters juveniles are also commonly found, spending part of their pelagic developmental phase.

Many human activities take place in the same marine area, especially boating (either recreational and industrial) and fishing. As a consequence, turtles frequenting the Northern Adriatic Sea are often exposed to anthropogenic threats, and indeed injured or ill sea turtles are often found stranded or involuntarily caught by fishermen. They are then rescued and recovered by local volunteer organizations cooperating with local institutions. ARCHE' (Research and Educational Activities for Chelonian Conservation) is a association promoting the study and conservation of protected species, with a special attention to marine turtles. Thanks to a collaboration with the veterinarians of the local Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute has recently build up an expertise on the treatment and recovery of injured sea turtles.

Greca is an adult female loggerhead (CCL: 79.5cm, weight: 64kg) which was fished in a trawl-net on Oct. 19, 2004. She had been already tagged by ARCHELON, the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece, after her 1996 nesting in Kyparissia Bay, Greece. She was then seen afterwards at the same nesting area in seasons 2000 and 2002. After PTT deployment, she was released on Wednesday, 3 Nov. near Porto Garibaldi (Ferrara).