Saving Mediterranean turtles and dolphins, one life at a time

Every morning, just as the sun is rising, teams from the Greek environmental charity ARCHELON survey the beaches of Kyparissia Bay in the west of the Peloponnese.

It is the largest sea turtle nesting area in the whole of the Mediterranean, and most of the nests are along a strip of just 10 kilometres.

And on the area ARCHELON are surveying there are around 5,000 nests along a 12.5 kilometre strip.

They quickly find a turtle trail leading to a new nest. The team carefully examines it and covers it with a metal grid, to protect the eggs from dogs and other threats that come from human activity on the beach.

When ARCHELON started this work, they counted just 600 nests in this area. Now, 40 years later, the turtles are beginning to thrive.

"I'm really into sea turtles! They are this wild animal that dates back to the ages of the dinosaurs, and we still see it coming on these same beaches year and year and year after," says Michalis Souroulidis, ARCHELON's Project Manager for the Western Peloponnese.

Out at sea turtles can get caught up in fishing nets, and sadly their populations wouldn't thrive without human intervention.

"Their biggest threat, their biggest predator is actually human. So in my mind, if we are their biggest threat, then we can also be their biggest help," he adds.

On land at Glyfada, near Athens ARCHELON runs a Sea Turtle Rescue Centre where volunteers help turtles who are sick or who've been injured, which come from all over Greece's long and varied coastlines. 

During our visit, we encountered 29 turtles, some of them severely injured: one turtle we see has a head injury and requires an operation. Their treatment requires the expertise of vets, who are assisted by dozens of volunteers from numerous countries.

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