- Region
- Águilas
- Alhama de Murcia
- Jumilla
- Lorca
- Los Alcázares
- Mazarrón
- San Javier
-
ALL AREAS & TOWNS
- AREAS
- SOUTH WEST
- MAR MENOR
- MURCIA CITY & CENTRAL
- NORTH & NORTH WEST
- TOWNS
- Abanilla
- Abarán
- Aguilas
- Alamillo
- Alcantarilla
- Aledo
- Alhama de Murcia
- Archena
- Balsicas
- Blanca
- Bolnuevo
- Bullas
- Cañadas del Romero
- Cabo de Palos
- Calasparra
- Camping Bolnuevo
- Campo De Ricote
- Camposol
- Canada De La Lena
- Caravaca de la Cruz
- Cartagena
- Cehegin
- Ceuti
- Cieza
- Condado de Alhama
- Corvera
- Costa Cálida
- Cuevas De Almanzora
- Cuevas de Reyllo
- El Carmoli
- El Mojon
- El Molino (Puerto Lumbreras)
- El Pareton / Cantareros
- El Raso
- El Valle Golf Resort
- Fortuna
- Fuente Alamo
- Hacienda del Alamo Golf Resort
- Hacienda Riquelme Golf Resort
- Isla Plana
- Islas Menores & Mar de Cristal
- Jumilla
- La Azohia
- La Charca
- La Manga Club
- La Manga del Mar Menor
- La Pinilla
- La Puebla
- La Torre
- La Torre Golf Resort
- La Unión
- Las Palas
- Las Ramblas
- Las Ramblas Golf
- Las Torres de Cotillas
- Leiva
- Librilla
- Lo Pagan
- Lo Santiago
- Lorca
- Lorquí
- Los Alcázares
- Los Balcones
- Los Belones
- Los Canovas
- Los Nietos
- Los Perez (Tallante)
- Los Urrutias
- Los Ventorrillos
- Mar De Cristal
- Mar Menor
- Mar Menor Golf Resort
- Mazarrón
- Mazarrón Country Club
- Molina de Segura
- Moratalla
- Mula
- Murcia City
- Murcia Property
- Pareton
- Peraleja Golf Resort
- Perin
- Pilar de la Horadada
- Pinar de Campoverde
- Pinoso
- Playa Honda
- Playa Honda / Playa Paraíso
- Pliego
- Portmán
- Pozo Estrecho
- Puerto de Mazarrón
- Puerto Lumbreras
- Puntas De Calnegre
- Region of Murcia
- Ricote
- Roda Golf Resort
- Roldan
- Roldan and Lo Ferro
- San Javier
- San Pedro del Pinatar
- Santiago de la Ribera
- Sierra Espuña
- Sucina
- Tallante
- Terrazas de la Torre Golf Resort
- Torre Pacheco
- Totana
- What's On Weekly Bulletin
- Yecla
- EDITIONS: Spanish News Today Alicante Today Andalucia Today
ARCHIVED - Calblanque baby turtles now have hard shells and are growing up rapidly
11 of the 21 baby turtles born in Calnegre are being reared at the marine aquiculture centre in San Pedro
The precious baby loggerhead sea turtles which hatched on September 18th last year at the beach of Cala Arturo in the regional park of Calnegre, the first event of its kind in the Region of Murcia for over a century, are progressing well at the Marine Aquiculture centre in San Pedro del Pinatar and have grown considerably thanks to a special diet of "seafood porridge" comprising hake, mackerel, squid, shrimp and mussels.
69 eggs were laid in total, but only 21 were fertilized, and the other 10 babies are in the care of the Centro Oceanográfico in Valencia, where they are being included in the “head starting” program to help re-establish loggerhead populations along the Mediterranean coastlines of Spain.
The turtles were "separated at birth" and divided between the two locations to increase the chances of survival in the eventuality that there was an infection or a health problem at either of the installations and all are reportedly doing well.
Each turtle will be looked after for approximately a year before being released at the beach where it was born, and of a previous batch of ten which were released by the centre in Valencia in November 2017 at least 9 are known to have survived. This represents a considerable success, as in natural conditions it is estimated that only 1 in 1,000 babies reaches maturity. The young turtles will all be chipped and some will be fitted with an emitter enabling technicians to track their movements.
The turtles at the IMIDA centre in San Pedro have been slowly weaned off their "porridge", are now eating solid food, have acquired hard shells and are happily diving and swimming (initially they were only able to bob around on the surface).
The ratio of males to females is unknown, and may not be known at the time of release either. Even at one year of age, endoscopic sexing would be necessary as the turtles will only weigh around 1 kilo when they are released.
The eggs laid last July were the first on record at any beach in the Region of Murcia since the late 19th century, although in recent years such events have begun to take place sporadically at other locations on the Mediterranean coast of Spain and in the Balearics. Now that the young turtles are growing, the main concern is that they should be able to avoid and ward off predators, as well as facing up to the threat of the increasing amount of plastics and other waste in the world’s seas and oceans, this artificial rearing giving them that much needed "head start" in life.
The head starting programme enjoyed a successful 2019, co-ordination between volunteers, ecologists and regional governments detecting nesting sites in Ibiza and Valencia from which the eggs were collected to be reared in safe installations as well as the Murcian site in Calblanque. A fourth nest in Castelldefels in Barcelona was undetected until October when the eggs hatched and baby turtles were seen making their way to the sea. Only a few were successfully retrieved, the remainder reaching the water where there is only a slim chance of survival.
The recent images show the latest inspection visit by the director of the IMIDA Murcia, Victor Serrano, visiting the installations this week.
The image showing the tiny turtles when they first hatched is from our own archive, as is the image showing a 30-35 year old female released back into the wild during the autumn last year in Calblanque, one of two injured turtles nursed back to health by our regional wildlife recovery centre and released on the same day.
Follow Murcia Today on Facebook to keep up to date with all the latest news, events and information in the Region of Murcia and the rest of Spain: https://www.facebook.com/MurciaToday/