Valencia program gives turtles fighting chance

CGTN Europe

Climate change, pollution and boats endanger turtles, but Spain is trying to change this and improve their chances of survival.  CGTN Europe’s Ken Browne went to visit a turtle program in Valencia to learn more about the measures being implemented.  #Spain #turtles #Valencia #animals

Transcript

00:00Life isn't easy for loggerhead turtles.

00:04Only one in a thousand hatchlings make it to adulthood.

00:08This little guy lost a flipper to a fishing boat motor.

00:12Meanwhile, bigger threats such as habitat loss and climate change

00:16mean this vulnerable species faces an uncertain future.

00:22Programs like this one at the Oceanographic Foundation in Valencia

00:26are trying to give them a better chance of survival to adulthood.

00:32Depending on how many eggs the turtle lays,

00:34we take a small percentage here to the Oceanographic

00:37for an incubation period as part of the Head Start program.

00:41The turtles here are kept in controlled conditions

00:44until they reach a certain size or weight

00:46that raises the chances of survival in the wild.

00:50The climate crisis is forcing big changes on turtle populations.

00:55The sex of turtles is determined by the temperature eggs are exposed to in their nests.

01:01Over 29 degrees Celsius, almost all eggs hatch as female offspring.

01:07Experts say 90% of hatchlings worldwide are now females,

01:12putting the survival of the species in danger.

01:16Warming waters in traditional Mediterranean nesting sites in Greece, Turkey and Cyprus

01:21are also forcing some to seek cooler temperatures elsewhere.

01:26Spanish nesting sites are unique as 70% of turtles hatched here are male

01:31due to slightly cooler temperatures.

01:34A cause for some hope.

01:38There's so much we don't know about the ability of turtles

01:41to carry out what is known as philopatry,

01:44a truly incredible feature of sea turtles.

01:47A turtle, after 20 or 30 years of being born,

01:50when they reach sexual maturity,

01:52can return to the same beach or area where they were born to make their nest.

01:58So these turtles are now arriving here at the Spanish coast where they weren't born.

02:03The truth is that they're a great mystery.

02:07Here at the Almasora beach in Castellón on the Valencian coast,

02:1122 hardier, heavier loggerhead turtles have gone from weighing a few grams

02:16to a kilo and a half, the weight when they are released into the ocean.

02:21Many are now being tagged with solar-powered satellite trackers

02:25to give scientists greater insights into their enigmatic migration

02:29and shifting breeding patterns.

02:32But when or even if they'll ever be back on these Spanish shores is anyone's guess.

02:38Ken Brown, CGTN, Valencia.

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