Caretta Caretta

The story behind the name

Caretta Caretta

Loggerhead turtles are thought to have been on Earth for roughly 106 million years. Today their numbers are falling because of uncontrolled coastal development, and as an endangered species they are protected by law. Apart from laying eggs they never come ashore. Their backs are reddish brown and their undersides a pale, whitish yellow; their legs have evolved into paddle-like flippers with no more than two claws on the outer edge. Although they breathe air, they can stay underwater for a long time. At night they bury their eggs in pits dug into sandy beaches — around 100 at a time (I remember counting 132; it can reach 160). After about two months the hatchlings emerge at night and head for the sea.

Their habitat stretches along the shores of the Eastern Mediterranean. The most important nesting sites in Türkiye are Yumurtalık in Adana and the beaches of Belek, Anamur, Köyceğiz, Dalyan and Patara. After Zakynthos in Greece, Belek is the second-largest nesting area in the Mediterranean and the largest in Türkiye: around 1,000 nests were recorded there in 2006 and 1,040 in Anamur in 2007, all placed under protection. Their shells can grow up to a metre long, and they feed on fish, crustaceans and other marine life — jellyfish in particular. The rise in turtle numbers since 2012 is the sweet reward of years of conservation work.

In the Kekova area you can watch sea turtles even in winter, and in summer, when nesting begins, dozens can be seen together at the surface.