Lakinos-Bay
is one of the three important nesting places of the "false" Karett Turtle.
She is the biggest art of sea-turtles with a length of the shell till 213 cm,
average 150 cm. Her weight is ca. 150 kg, sometimes till 500 kg. She is hunted
because of her meat and her eggs. So the population is regressive and she is on
the list of protected animals.Sunday, 8th June 2003, is a special day: the first nest is found on the beach. In the next weeks there will be about 200.
In ideal case the turtle comes on the beach during the night, she digges a hole, puts about 100 eggs in it, recoveres the eggs with sand and goes back in the sea. She will never meet her children.
If she is disturbed while she is building her nest, she interupt, gos back in the sea and will try later again. If she is disturbed again, she will loose her eggs in the sea, where they are damaged or eaten by other animals.
After about eight weeks, the little turtles come out of the eggs, breeded out of the sun. They have to find her way to the sea by themselves. In ideal case they follow the light, and the sea is brighter than the sand.
If there are campfires in the bay or streetlights or the light of the restaurants, the little turtles are confused and follow them. They never will reach the sea.
If you believe to help them by bringing them in the water, it is a big mistake. Turtles must find the way by themselves. They need the information to build their own nest some years later. To do this, they return to the place of their birth.
Bad, if there are plastic bags in the sea. Turtles believe they are jellyfishes and eat them. Then they die.
Bad,
if freeliving dogs or foxes find the nests and eat the eggs. The members of "Archelon,
the Sea Turtle Protection of Greece" try to avoid this. They put frames
of bambus over the nests.If you see such a bambus frame in the bay of Lakonikos, don't touch it. Below it, about 100 little turtles grow up. Only two of onethousand will adoult and one day they will - in ideal case - come back on this beach to build their own nest.
(Photos: Postkartset of the Organisation "Archelon, the Sea Turtle Protection of Greece".)
