The TUI Care Foundation and the Turkish nature conservation NGO DEKAMER have equipped a rehabilitated green sea turtle with a satellite tracking device and released it into the Mediterranean.
The aim of the project is to trace the movement of the sea turtle to better understand its way of life, to find ways of providing better protection to these animals in the wild. There are few studies on the green sea turtle and this project also aims to promote the protection of sea turtles on the nesting beaches on the western Mediterranean coast of Turkey and at sea.
Injured sea turtles are taken into DEKAMER’s rehabilitation centre in Dalyan on the Turkish coast and cared for so that they can be released back into the sea. Many of the turtles in the rescue centre have been injured by fishing activities or speedboat traffic in the sea. DEKAMER was the first turtle rescue centre established in Turkey.
The turtle named Talay, which means god or goddess of the ocean in Turkish, is between 15-20 years old. Talay was rescued by DEKAMER after she swallowed a fishing line and other plastic particles. After almost nine months of treatment at the rescue station, Talay has now recovered and is ready to return to the Mediterranean waters.
DEKAMER and the TUI Care Foundation, also installed a satellite tracking system on a sea turtle in 2019. The rehabilitated adult loggerhead sea turtle called Tuba was released back into the Mediterranean with a GPS fix satellite tracking device. Tuba has travelled over ten thousand kilometres since then. Her journey took her from the Mediterranean, to the Adriatic Sea as well as the Ionian Sea and has been followed online by nearly four and a half million people.
In order to raise awareness of the importance of protecting endangered species, the initiative is also working to inform holidaymakers and locals how they can help protect turtles in Turkey.
To follow Talay go to: https://facebook.com/dekamerturkey
