Caretta caretta record on Belek beach

ANTALYA

A historical record was broken with 3,200 nests this year on the beaches of Belek, the largest nesting area of Caretta caretta in the Mediterranean Sea in the southern province of Antalya.

The number of sea turtle nests, which was 2,550 in 2016, increased to 3,200 this year.

As part of the “Sea Turtles Monitoring and Research Project,” which started from Aksu creek and carried out on the 30-kilometer beach in Kadriye, Belek, Boğazkent and Manavgat, including Denizyaka and Denizkent coasts, more than 75,000 baby sea turtles emerged from 3,200 nests.

The president of the Ecological Research Association (EKAD), Ali Fuat Canpolat, who has been working for 21 years on the beach where more than 75,000 babies were sent off to the sea, said, “In Antalya, we have 650 kilometers of coastline and nine sea turtles nesting beaches. But we do not have a center to treat injured turtles. For this, we travel for four hours to Dalyan. This journey is also exhausting for injured turtles. While there are sea turtle rehabilitation centers in Muğla, Mersin and Hatay in the provinces along the Mediterranean coastline, there is none in Antalya, which has a coastline of 650 kilometers.”

Canbolat and about 35 volunteers work on the beach every day, starting at 4 a.m. until noon, from May to October.

He added that they informed the relevant ministries about this situation.