An exceptional event in Senigallia for TartaLife !!!
8 sea turtles recued in the center of Cetacea Foundation released in collaboration with CNR-ISMAR
November 5th was a day that will be long remembered in the now long battle for the conservation of marine turtles in the Mediterranean. In the context of TartaLife project, funded by the European Commission through the LIFE + fund NATURA 2012, the Cetacean Foundation in Riccione, in collaboration with CNR-ISMAR, gave birth to one of the most spectacular release of sea turtles never seen in the Adriatic. In fact, 8 marine turtles (Grace, Ben, Gigetto, Trudy, Livia, Archimedes, Plato Menne and II) are back into the wild after being treated at the Recovery Center Care and Rehabilitation of Marine Turtles in Riccione, managed by Cetacea Foundation, now universally recognized as a reference point for the central and northern Adriatic. Most of the turtles being treated at the center are represented by specimens caught accidentally in commercial fishing and voluntarily delivered to the Cetacea Foundation by fishermen increasingly collaborative and sensitive to environmental issues. In the Adriatic it is estimated that there are more than 70,000 specimens but that the possible capture events can touch almost half of these.
Among the turtles released Ben, host of Riccione hotel in June 2015 and now "mascot" of the center, had come to the Center with a head injury that had caused him great damage to motion. After more than a year during which he was constantly followed by veterinary Dr. Elisa Ambrosio, he underwent physiotherapy and a period of rehabilitation and monitoring at the Turtle Cove in Numana, finally he reaches the freedom. Other turtles as Gigetto, Trudy and Plato II, came in extremely precarious conditions were treated with cutting-edge techniques at the Modena South Veterinary Clinic Dr. Jordan Nardini and put back completely in the sixth.
Within the project TartaLife, the Foundation Cetacea, only in the course of this year, has treated and released 20 turtles perfectly rehabilitated, including 6 from the Marche coast and recovered thanks to the Regional Network for the Conservation of Marine Turtles promoted by Marche region, with the essential contribution of the Coast Guard. Some of these have been equipped with satellite transmitters that allow continuous monitoring of their location, basic information to reconstruct the routes carried and develop management measures to protect the species. In addition to the care of the turtles and the strengthening of the recovery centers, the Tartalife project proposes a series of initiatives aimed at the conservation of species ranging from the training of fishermen and the general public, the development of low-impact fishing methods. The release by the Cetacea Foundation and CNR-ISMAR took place on board the vessel of the boat ZIO LINO Senigallia, who worked at TartaLife project since the begin. The fishermen's cooperation is and will be the key element to ensure the conservation of this magnificent species.
