The sea turtle is one of the most successful forms of life on earth. Having appeared hundreds of millions of years ago, it is an example of the adaptation of the animal world to the constantly changing conditions of the planet due to natural cataclysms or human activity.
The life expectancy of turtles exceeds the average age of survival for humans, but in all likelihood it is humans who will lead to their extinction.
Sea turtles are found all over the world, but the largest of this species inhabits the shores of the Mediterranean Sea in the area of the island of Cyprus, reports the website of the Cyprus Center for Environmental Research and Education.
The green turtle (Chelonia mydas) reaches 160 kilograms, and its length can exceed one meter. This type of turtle breeds only in the coastal areas of Cyprus and Turkey, with a very small percentage of the population found in Israel.
The Cypriot coast is also home to another turtle – the popular loggerhead (Caretta Caretta). It reaches smaller sizes and inhabits the sea area in Cyprus and Greece. What the two turtle species have in common, apart from where they live, is the fact that they are threatened with extinction.
The population of female loggerhead turtles in the Mediterranean Sea is between 5,000 and 6,000. The figures for green turtles are even more alarming. It is estimated that there are around 500-600 of them in the entire region and they are practically among the most endangered animal species in the Mediterranean along with the Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus).
Uncontrolled tourist development, noise from hotels and restaurants, which bothers female specimens, pollution of seawater and the use of illegal fishing methods are among the main reasons for the decline in the population of reptiles in Cyprus.
Every year, about a hundred turtles die on the shores of Cyprus, the Cypriot newspaper “Philelefteros” reports in an article. In the summer, there are more such cases, since during the summer months the reptiles sleep on the surface of the water to save energy for the breeding season.
Turtles are protected under international treaties, and in Cyprus, turtles, their eggs and habitat are protected under the fisheries law.
Now the authorities are introducing new, even stricter measures, with which they seek to preserve the population of these ancient inhabitants of the planet. The measures provide for salty fines and do not exclude even imprisonment for people who disturb the turtles. The new regulations prohibit the harassment and feeding of the protected species on the island. In addition to turtles, these are also dolphins (Delphinidae), European eels (Anguilla anguilla) and Mediterranean monk seals (Monachus monachus).
It is forbidden to destroy and move nests and eggs of sea turtles, as well as to approach underwater caves where the Mediterranean seal lives, without the appropriate permits. Violators are threatened with financial penalties of up to 20 thousand euros. The strict measures adopted and already published in the State Gazette provide for imprisonment of up to twelve months.
The aim of the authorities is to limit as much as possible the human presence in the area of the beach areas where female turtles come out of the sea to lay their eggs. It is on these beaches that baby turtles hatch from the eggs, which then return to the sea – their natural habitat for centuries.
The life cycle of sea turtles is particularly long. They can live for over a hundred years, but only one in a thousand hatched babies reaches sexual maturity, according to the Mediterranean Association for the Rescue of Sea Turtles (MEDASSET).
And human activity is among the main factors behind the observed trend of extinction of their population.
Illustrative photo: pexels-zack-gilbert-2159535417-36132584
