The general director of the Oceanographic of Valencia, Eduardo Nogués, presented this morning at the facilities of Baleària in Dénia the awareness campaign "Turtles in the Mediterranean 2022" of the Oceanographic Foundation, in which a total of 60 coastal municipalities of the Valencian Community, the Region of Murcia and the Balearic Islands participate, in addition to the Valencia Metro, Alicante Tram and Paradors of Tourism of beaches. An act that has been completed with the release into the sea of a sea turtle recovered in the Oceanographic Foundation's Sea Animal Recovery and Conservation Area (ARCA).
The mayor of Dénia participated in the presentation, Vicent Grimalt, the director of the Foundation Baleària, Adolfo Utor, the general director of the Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències, Antonio Torres, the general director of the Oceanogràfic, Eduardo Nogués, the director of the Oceanogràfic Foundation, Leocadia G. Bartual and the head of the Conservation Area of the Oceanogràfic Foundation and researcher , José Luis Crespo, who explained the Foundation's work with turtles in the fields of dissemination, education and research, as well as its importance for the marine world.
The deputy of the Corts Valencianes, Rosa de Falastín Mustafá, the councilors of the municipalities of Xàbia, Oliva and Tavernes de la Valldigna, the CEO of Global Omnium, Dionisio García and the representative of the University of Valencia, Jesús Tomás.
A call to citizens
The awareness campaign, promoted by the Fundación Oceanogràfic, consists of placing more than 1.500 posters on billboards and other media, from which swimmers and travelers are informed at the points of greatest attendance and visibility of the presence of sea turtles. on the Mediterranean coast and that, in the event of a sighting, it is necessary to call 112 in order to activate the Stranding Network, made up of the University of Valencia, the Ministry of Agriculture and Ecological Transition and the Fundación Oceanogràfic itself.
In the case of the Valencian Community, the rescue team of the Fundación Oceanogràfic is in charge of traveling to the area to assess the state of the animal and transfer it, if necessary, to the ARCA del Mar, where it recovers until it can return. back to the sea.
The dates of the campaign are crucial for the conservation of the species, since it is the season in which nesting occurs, that is, the approach of the females to the beach to lay their eggs in the points they consider appropriate, so it is essential that they are not disturbed.
As there has been an increase in nests in recent years and, due to the phylopatria of these animals, it is possible that a good number of nestings will be recorded again.
Release of a recovered turtle to the sea
At the end of the presentation, and as usual in events of the Oceanogràfic Foundation, attendees and volunteers of the Oceanogràfic Foundation have gone to the beach of the Escollera Norte de Dénia to bid farewell to the sea a sea turtle recovered in the ARCA del Mar -also known as “turtle hospital”, with the aim of disseminating and raising awareness about the causes that threaten this species, such as pollution, degradation or loss of its habitat or actions derived from human action, among others.
The animal, a 14-kilo female, was admitted to the turtle hospital with moderate gas embolism thanks to a warning from a Penyíscola fishing boat that accidentally captured it and called 112, thus activating the Valencian Community Stranding Network.
