The well-known green turtle, known as the Loggerhead sea turtle, is a specie of sea turtle characterized by its large size and dark green carapace.
This endangered specie plays a critical role in seaweed and coral reef ecosystems. For this reason, it is important to develop protection programs.
One of the volunteer destinations with whom we cooperate, Cape Verde, is one of the most important nesting sites for this species. There we have a protection project in which participants are divided into working groups and elaborate tasks such as:
- Daily census of turtle tracks and nests on nesting beaches.
- Monitoring and surveillance of beaches.
- Rescue of disoriented females.
- Protection of breeding females and their nests.
- Recording and collecting data on reproductive females.
- Control and monitoring the productivity of the beaches.
- Labeling and monitoring natural nests.
- Exhumation of natural nests.
- Analysis of predation rates and egg and offspring mortality.
- Productivity improvement through hatchery programs.
Facts about the Loggerhead Turtle
Their carapace can reach up to 1.5 meters in length, varying from dark green to olive brown. They have a sharp cone-shaped beak and limbs perfectly adapted for swimming.
They are mainly herbivorous and feed on seaweeds and seagrasses.
Turtles reproduce on nesting beaches where they come to lay their eggs. Females dig holes in the sand where they lay their eggs, which they cover before returning to the sea. The offspring hatch approximately two months later.
One of their main threats is undoubtedly the loss of habitat due to the destruction of nesting areas, water pollution and poaching of eggs and accidental capture in fishing gear. Undoubtedly, a series of human actions that have a direct impact on their preservation.
This project in Cape Verde is directly involved with the current situation of this species.
We have been the destruction, it is time to be the solution.