Equinac turns nursemaid to Mojacar’s turtle hatchlings

FIVE loggerhead sea turtles that hatched on Mojacar’s Granatilla beach last August will be released this summer.

The Junta originally announced that the hatchlings would be transferred to the Andalucia Marine Environment Management Centre (Cegma) in Algeciras but they are now at the Almeria-based Equinac centre.

Equinac volunteers are authorised to assist in rescuing beached and stranded turtles and cetaceans along the province’s 220 kilometres of coastline. The non-profitmaking organisation also attends to exotic and domestic animals.

Raquel Espin, the Junta’s Sustainable Development delegate to Almeria recently, visited the Equinac centre where she asked about the turtles’ progress.

The turtles will return to the sea once they were big enough and sufficiently strong to have a good chance of survival, Equinac coordinator Eva Maria Moron told the delegate.

“Each week, Equinac sends a report to Cegma, with details of the turtles’ weight and seize,” she said.

During her Equinac visit, the Junta delegate also emphasised the need to protect the marine environment.

“The seas absorb an important amount of carbon dioxide, reducing the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere,” she said.

“What we do affects the planet either positively or negatively and we really should start thinking about how we can change the world, protecting human beings but also animals.  Everything is connected.”