I understand it is a big problem anyway.
I also have to mention we are the only Sea Turtle Rescue Center in Greece, so
we receive all the reports of injured or sick turtles that are found sick in
Greece.
Could you estimate how many turtles you have coming to the center
per year?
Our average is 60-70 injured turtles, the majority of them are of the species
of loggerhead. We also have some cases of green turtles. In total, since the
rescue center has started operating in 1994, approximately 1100 turtles have
been admitted and treated. We also have a quite high rate of the turtles that
have been released. Our main goal is to treat those animals that are coming
in and, as soon as they are ready, release them back into the wild. We have
an average of 60% of turtles that are being released, which is very exciting.
Do you have any turtles that have to stay with you for life or do you
have to move them somewhere? How does it work when a turtle can’t
be released back into the wild?
We have few cases at the moment, a couple of turtles we are hoping to send
to a very good aquarium as soon as possible, because there is no another
option. There is not an option for those animals to be released to survive in
the wild. So, yes, we have a few cases like this.
Do you have any reports on how injured turtles which have been
released are coping? I saw some pictures of turtles without flippers for
example, is it really possible for them to survive?
It is possible, but unfortunately there is not a lot of research on that subject.
The perfect way to track a turtle is to put a satellite transmitter on it, but it is
very expensive, so we haven’t done it apart from some cases. There are two
turtles from the rescue center we are able to track with a transmitter. It
would be really nice if we could do that in that area. Apart from that, we are
tagging them, putting special metal tags on their front flippers. We are also
using microchips, in case they are found somewhere else. It is a good way to
keep an eye on them. Turtles with more specific features, like missing one