The beach of Can Pere Antoni, in the heart of Palma and almost at the foot of the cathedral, has seen the birth of the first recorded specimens of sea turtles in Mallorca. There are no records that such a phenomenon has occurred before on a beach on the island, where on June 7 the mother laid the first eggs in the first nest detected on the island. These are twelve specimens of the 60 that were left in the nest to hatch naturally.
During these weeks, a total of 42 volunteers have stood guard next to the nest to protect the eggs. The first turtle birth occurred this Sunday morning and the rest hatched early Monday morning. One of the volunteer teams that guarded the nest detected the presence of 12 sea turtle hatchlings emerging from within the sand, 61 days after they were laid.
The specimens have been transferred to specific facilities in Port d’Andratx, where the COFIB Department of Marine Fauna will be in charge of assessing their condition and their care and breeding until they are reintroduced into the sea, once they are stabilized and older.
The general director of Medi Natural del Govern, Anna Torres, explained that climate change is causing the behavior of species to change, and this affects their migration and nesting. The turtles are moving from the eastern Mediterranean towards the Spanish coasts and nesting in areas where they did not do so before. In the Balearic Islands, the first birth of which there is evidence is from the year 2019
The Balearic Government informs in a statement that the sea turtles born in the nests of the Balearic Islands will form part of the Head Starting program, in accordance with the national strategy for the species and in collaboration with other autonomous communities. It consists of a breeding program in a controlled artificial environment for between 10 and 12 months. Thanks to this program, the chances of survival of these animals once they are returned to the sea are exponentially increased.
This is the first sea turtle nest that has been recorded on the island of Mallorca and throughout the State during 2023, and the first of the five currently active nests that have been recorded this 2023 season in the Balearic Islands. The other four nests are on the beach of Cala Millor, on the island of Mallorca, and on the beaches of Es Figueral, Santa Eulària des Riu and Salinas, on the island of Eivissa.
The Caretta caretta sea turtle is a species listed as vulnerable in the Spanish Catalog of Threatened Species, which usually breeds in the eastern Mediterranean. It has not started to nest in the western Mediterranean until the beginning of the 21st century. The Government demands maximum collaboration from all citizens to preserve the nests since this is the nesting period of the species, so it is likely that more nesting attempts will be recorded.
