We collaborate in the conservation of loggerhead turtles with the Junta de Andalucia

• The loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) is a fundamental species for marine biodiversity, classified as vulnerable to extinction by the IUCN
• Selwo Marina will house 5 loggerhead turtles, hatched on a beach in Marbella in 2023, in a specially created facility where they remain under the watchful care of our conservation team
• This Head-Starting action, which combines the work of professionals from zoos, administrations and public collaboration, will progress with the release as the summer heat progresses

In the words of the director of Selwo Costa del Sol, Alberto Martín, on the arrival of the turtles at Selwo Marina, participating in this type of action is ‘another example of the conservation work, of the dissemination of respect for the environment and the scientific and educational work’ that is carried out by modern zoos.

This action is part of the Head-Starting Programme for breeding loggerhead turtles of the Department of Sustainability, Environment and Blue Economy, which depends on the Andalusian Regional Government. This is a programme in which cooperation between zoos, aquariums, oceanographic centres and institutions, together with volunteers and public collaboration, is essential for these hatchlings to succeed. The idea is that the turtles will remain in the facilities until the five hatchlings are released into the sea, probably in August, when the seawater will have reached a higher temperature. Until then, they will remain under the watchful care of our conservation team.

Within the Head-Starting actions, it is very important to develop an environmental enrichment programme during their stay at the centre: a series of techniques and methods that introduce different stimuli that favour natural behaviour, increasing animal welfare and avoiding abnormal behaviour. In the case of hatchling turtles, the space is naturalised through structures that simulate algae, structures are used so that they can rest and hide, and use is made of currents, waves, rain and the noise of birds.

When they hatched last year, each turtle was closely monitored: during incubation, diseases could be transmitted from the egg, which is why hatching is often difficult. The tasks of the keepers during these months include weighing, measuring and feeding the turtles two to three times a day. The mixture of blue and white fish, molluscs and crustaceans that make up their diet evolves during their stay at the transit centre towards the sea, depending on the stage of growth: from porridge, then a mixture of small pieces of fish, to whole small fish, as well as supplements with nutrients that can be found in the marine environment, such as spirulina algae, for example.

These actions are essential as they ensure the survival under temporary expert care of part of the hatchling turtles in each nest, in a context where it is estimated that, in a completely natural way without human intervention, only 1 out of every 1,000 turtles would survive their first year of life. Furthermore, given the lack of knowledge about the state of the marine environment, the care and study of turtles provides information of enormous value to the scientific community. In fact, turtles are fundamental to marine biodiversity, with ‘a very important role in the marine ecosystem, controlling jellyfish pests’, as Allum points out.