DEKAMER, the sea turtles treatment and rehabilitation center located on Dalyan-Iztuzu Beach in Muğla, closely monitors the lives of caretta caretta and green sea turtles, which are on the red list of endangered species of the World Nature Conservation Union (IUCN), with a satellite tracking device.
26 sea turtles, including the turtle named ‘Tuba’, which attracted the attention of the public when it was released into the sea in 2019, are monitored with a satellite tracking device.
9 out of 26 sea turtles fitted with tracking devices lost their signal. One of the turtles was found dead in İzmir, there is no information about the condition of 8 of them yet.
TUBA EXCEEDED 6 THOUSAND KILOMETERS
DEKAMER President Prof. Dr. Yakup Kaska noted that ‘Tuba’, a female tadpole caretta caretta aged 25-30, was released to its natural habitat from the Iztuzu beach on August 28, 2019, and came out of Turkish waters on November 18.
prof. Dr. Kaska said that since that day, Tuba reached the side of Malta from the Greek islands and then the Adriatic Sea, traveled more than 6 thousand kilometers and is now in that region.
MAY COME TO HOME THIS YEAR
Explaining that Tuba descended from the Adriatic Sea according to the latest signals, Prof. Dr. Kaska announced that they expect Tuba to nest in Iztuzu Beach again this year or next year. prof. Dr. helmet, “Sea turtles accumulate food for 3-4 years and lay eggs every 3-5 years, depending on their nutritional characteristics” said.
prof. Dr. Kaska noted that together with the Tuba tortoise, the 16-21 years old female green sea turtle ‘Talay’ was released to its natural habitat from the Iztuzu beach on June 16, 2021 and is currently living around the Dodecanese Islands.
“T“ONYUKUK AND EFE’S SIGNALS HAVE BEEN CUT”
Stating that within the scope of the Sea Turtle Conservation Project in the Mediterranean, 4 turtles were tracked with a satellite tracking device, Prof. Dr. helmet, “We especially follow the male and pre-adult sea turtles for which the least information is available. These are the 17-22 years old green sea turtle named DEKAMER-1, which we started to follow in 2020-2021, and Tonyukuk, 35-40 years old, MAVA and caretta caretta sea turtles named Efe, 25-30 years old. However, Tonyukuk and Efe’s signals were cut off. said.
“IMPORTANT FOR THE PROTECTION OF HABITATS”
prof. Dr. Yakup Kaska said that in the last two years, a total of 20 sea turtles have been followed by a satellite tracking device. Emphasizing that it is not enough to protect the nesting areas of these creatures, Prof. Dr. helmet, “Following the life cycle between feeding, wintering and nesting areas is also of great importance. Knowing which areas and countries they visited during migration and outside the breeding season is of great importance for the protection of those habitats and for taking protection measures. said.
1 DEAD, 8 UNKNOWN
prof. Dr. Jacob Kaska, “The signal of a total of 9 turtles, 8 of which were released in 2020 and 1 in 2021, was cut off. The signal of Efe, which was released to the sea on August 23, 2020, was cut off in September-2020, and Tonyukuk in August-2021. Satellite in August 2020 The signals of Likya, Kadriye, Belek, Uğurlu, Göksu and Mersin, which were released into the sea by attaching a monitoring device, were cut off in different months of 2021. On the other hand, the signal could not be received from the sea turtle Leyla, which was fitted with a transmitter in September 2021, on April 12, 2022. Leyla is in İzmir “He was found dead on the shore. There is no clear information about the reason why the signals of the other 8 turtles were cut off. The turtle may have died, the battery may have died, the device may have been damaged in any way.” he said.
VERY IMPORTANT DATA REACHED
Pointing out that so many turtles have not been watched from Turkey until now, Prof. Dr. Jacob Kaska, “Thanks to the turtles we have watched in the last two years, we have seen where the turtles in our country migrate to, where they roam, some of them stay on the coasts of Turkey, those who do not migrate are predominantly male individuals, and there are female individuals who stay on the coasts of our country. In this way, we obtained very important data for important sea turtle areas. While every country declares marine protected areas or sea turtle protection areas in their own seas, this information will be needed by our country and will guide the way. said.
