Murcia Region Hosts Two-Thirds of Spanish Loggerhead Turtle Nests

Fernando López Miras, president of the Murcia Region in Spain, announced that two out of every three loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) nests detected in Spain this year are located along the Murcian coastline. The region is becoming a key refuge for this vulnerable and threatened species in the Mediterranean Sea.

Twenty-eight turtles hatched from a nest discovered in July 2023 in Calblanque Regional Park were released back into the sea after a year of “headstarting”, a conservation technique to boost early growth and survival rates. Each released turtle has a microchip for tracking their movements.

The Murcia Region boasts a network of 16 volunteer associations dedicated to locating nests, protecting the turtles, and alerting authorities. Two new nests, containing a total of 167 eggs, were recently discovered within five days of each other, bringing the total number of recorded nests in the region to eleven. These eggs are currently protected and monitored for hatching in mid-August.