The turtles lay their eggs again in Villasimius

57 new sea turtles are born in the Villasimius park.

On August 8, during a birthday party on the beach of Punta Santo Stefano in Villasimius, nature has decided to make a truly unusual gift to a little girl, making her birthday truly unforgettable. The girl and her friends saw about twenty baby turtles emerge from the sand, born in a nest that had not been noticed or registered by the biologists of the Marine Protected Area. The marine park biologists, who arrived an hour later, were able to witness the birth of another 14 baby turtles.

The births continued in the following days, with 12 baby turtles born on 9/8, another 7 on 10/8. On both days, the marine park biologists allowed the public to witness live births, also providing useful and detailed explanations on the life of turtles and how this is affected by global warming caused by climate change. If the nest temperature is between 28 ° and 31.5 °, male turtles are born, between 31.5 ° and 33 ° female turtles are born. In order to obviate the prevalence of female births in traditional nesting places, given the rise in temperatures, some explorer turtles are pushing themselves to lay in Sardinia, further north of their usual territory in search of a temperature more suitable for the births of male turtles.

On 11/8 it was decided to open the nest, 3 other baby turtles were found: they had came out of the eggs, but had remained trapped between the shells and the other eggs. They probably would not have been able to re-emerge on their own,at least the two which had been found further down. 17 eggs were also found, most probably not fertilized or not sufficiently heated (perhaps the shade of nearby umbrellas did not allow them to reach a sufficient temperature), but maybe 3 or 4 could lead to some new births in the next few days.

Another nest, in Piscina Rei, was discovered and surveyed by the biologists of the Marine Protected Area of Villasimius, thanks to a pilot program that allowed the exploration of the beaches with drones at sunrise, before the arrival of the tourists who would erase the traces left by the turtles. The birth is scheduled for the end of August, the very first of September and, even in this case, the public will be allowed to attend the event.

We remind you the fundamental rules for these cases: do not bring dogs that could attack the turtles, do not take pictures with flash, do not light up the nest (the turtles will be illuminated by the park biologists with infrared lights, which do not bother them, during the ascent from the nest and then with a white light from the sea, to ensure that they are not attracted in the wrong direction by the lights of the surrounding villas).

For news on the depositions of previous years click here.