• Last year, more than 150 turtles were observed near the coast of the Alpes-Maritimes, in good and sometimes, in poor health, according to the care center of Monaco.

  • The head of the service then shares the good behavior to adopt to preserve this species.

  • And one of the first actions to adopt is simply “not to throw your waste on the ground”.

In mid-May, a Loggerhead turtle was collected at the Cap d'Antibes wildlife rehabilitation center, in the Alpes-Maritimes, when it was in "great difficulty".

According to information from

Nice-Matin

, she had serious injuries which would be due to a collision with a machine at sea. On the Côte d'Azur, two care centers exist to help these marine animals, the The other is located in Monaco, in the oceanographic museum.

At the start of the summer season and with the arrival of boaters in large numbers, Olivier Brunel, head of the aquarium department at the museum and caretaker of marine animals for seven years, reminds us that we must protect turtles and, more broadly, the environment. .

What are the risks for turtles when they are close to our coasts?

There are three main threats to turtles in this part of the Mediterranean.

First, turtles can be injured by boats that are not careful and ram into them.

It also happens that they get stuck by getting tangled in fishing nets.

They are also at risk when feeding because they eat anything in front of them when swimming.

The turtles then ingest a lot of waste, including plastic bags that they confuse with jellyfish.

They may then choke or have serious digestive problems.

As a consequence, either they can no longer rise to the surface, or they float.

Which is, in both cases, very serious for their survival.

How does the care center of the Oceanographic Institute of Monaco work?

The care center was created in 2019, with a facility specially made for the care of injured turtles and the collaboration of a veterinarian.

In addition, we have an area of ​​the aquarium dedicated to turtles which allows us at the same time to raise awareness and remind the public of the importance of preserving this species.

When we recover a turtle at sea, we treat it and before putting it back in the water, it goes through a rehabilitation pool of 160 m3, located in the open air, to ensure its ability to return to the sea. can equip some of them with a GPS beacon on the shell to collect data on their movements, behaviors or even feeding areas.

Because it is a difficult animal to follow.

What are your observations about turtles in recent years?

We work a lot with Monegasque amateur fishermen who tell us each time when they see turtles.

Last year we had over 150 sightings, most of them healthy turtles.

Again this Friday morning, we were contacted to tell us that a turtle had been seen near Antibes.

We cannot conclude that in summer there are more turtles than at any other time.

We simply have more reports because there are more people at sea. The positive point to highlight is that we see that the population of loggerhead turtles is increasing.

It is surely thanks to the preservation campaigns that are carried out in all the countries of the Mediterranean.

And this is very good news because the trend was quite the opposite just a few years ago.

What should be done to continue to protect these animals as well as possible?

When you come across a turtle, avoid getting too close to it or touching it.

She can bite very hard if she feels in danger, if she is stressed.

If she seems fine, just leave her alone.

As for boaters, you have to be reasonable about your speed and always be vigilant when you're at sea. If there's a collision, it's too late to help.

It is then necessary to call a care center, either that of Cap d'Antibes (06.16.86.26.86), or ours (+377.93.15.36.00), depending on where it is located.

Every year we organize a big meeting on this subject where we invite the actors of the marine world in the Principality, whether amateur fishermen or individuals, to raise their awareness of how to protect turtles.

But in general, protecting turtles,

That's to say ?

The first step within everyone's reach is simply not to throw your waste on the ground, whether you are by the sea or not.

And pick them up if you see them to prevent them from ending up in the turtles' bellies.

If everyone did that, it would already be great.

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