2007 Results
A summary of the season results is set out in the table below. Well done to everyone who helped make this our second best season ever despite the vandalism of two of our nests!
| Nest | Location | Laid | Hatched | Days | Excavated | Total eggs | To the sea! | Success |
| 1 | Curium | 09 June | 31 July | 51 | 03 August | 80 | 43 | 54% |
| 2 | Tunnel | 15 June | 30 July | 45 | 02 August | 112 | 68 | 61% |
| 3 | Lemmings | 19 June | 03 August | 45 | 05 August | 79 | 40 | 51% |
| 4 | Curium | 19 June | 05 August | 47 | 07 August | 81 | 65 | 80% |
| 5 | Long | 01 July | 16 August | 46 | 19 August | 68 | 52 | 76% |
| 6 | Tunnel | 04 July | 15 August | 42 | 17 August | 111 | 36 | 32% |
| 7 | Curium | 05 July | 25 August | 51 | 28 August | 66 | 56 | 85% |
| 8 | Tunnel | 05 July | 17 August | 43 | 20 August | 79 | 49 | 62% |
| 9 | Tunnel | 06 July | 17 August | 42 | 20 August | 95 | 70 | 74% |
| 10 | Lemmings | 08 July | 21 August | 44 | 23 August | 67 | 47 | 70% |
| 11 | Tunnel | 01 August | 14 September | 44 | 17 September | 12 | 8 | 67% |
| 12 | Lemmings | 22 August | 07 October | 48 | 11 October | 87 | 55 | 63% |
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | Total | 937 | 589 | 63% |
| 6 | Nest vandalised | | | | | | | |
| 11 | Eggs Stolen | | | | | | | |
Unfortunately we also had six dead and two injured turtles washed up on our beaches during the year. These were mainly the victims of entanglement in old fishing nets and gear and emphasise the importance of our regular beach and underwater cleans. More positively the nests laid on the busy tourist beach at Curium were extremely well respected this year - probably as a result of our information campaign which will be bigger and better this year!
1 July
Thanks to a few quiet nights and a few less vehicles on the beaches Long beach in Paramali now has its' first nest of the season. It was found this morning and should hatch towards the middle of August. Well done to Jane for spotting the tracks on her Sunday morning run. Thanks also to Dimos for his rubbish collection efforts on that beach.
This week also saw three of our volunteers tramping the beaches around Polis in order to gain some training on nest locating. Well done chaps and given the heat of the day that beer at the end was well deserved!
26 June
It has been an eventful week but unfortunately for all the wrong reasons. We have had two dead adult loggerhead turtles reported to us. Information on both has been passed to the SBAA environment office and to the Cyprus Fisheries Department. Thanks to John and Frank for helping us out with those. At least one of the turtles looks to have been injured in a boating/jetski accident. Cause of death for the other is as yet uncertain. Sunday also saw the rescue of an injured juvenile loggerhead which was spotted in the water off Lemmings. A big thank you to kite surfer Muzz for fishing it out and taking care of it until Dr Andreas Demetropoulos was able to collect it on Monday. It looks to have only been lightly injured by a propeller and should hopefully make a full recovery. Pictures of the infured turtle are on the photosite.
On a lighter note the engineers are now hard at work blocking off vehicle access to Long Beach. Hopefully this will mean that there is still a chance that we will get some nests on this beach this year. Three of our volunteers are also heading off to Lara for some nest location training later this week so we'll keep you posted on how they get on!
19 June
We now have nests three (Lemmings) and four (Curium). Both were found this morning 19th June. Well done Sally, John, Ron and Tis. Many thanks also to John and Frank for their invaluable assistance. An even bigger thanks to Gail for providing Linda with much needed coffee and toast. Nest four is a Loggerhead but we are 99% certain that nest three is from the even more rare Green Turtle. Watch this space in about seven weeks time. If we're right it's our first one since 1998!!!
17th June - Fusiliers,Nests, tracks and quad bikes
Many thanks and diowlch ym fawr to everyone from the Royal Welch who dropped by to say hi at our stand yesterday. It was great to meet you all (shame about the wind) and very obliging of that turtle to give us a nest just up the beach! (Only cost me a tenner!). An even bigger thanks to all of you who signed up to help and to Marty Ansfield for inviting us along.
We now have two nests and a further three turtles trying very hard on Curium, Lemmings and Long beaches. The second was found by our co-ordinators Linda and David yesterday (16th June) on Tunnel Beach. Perfect timing as it coincided with a the "Royal Welch Family Day" at Fusiliers (eastern side of Tunnel Beach). The same night saw a second attempt by a different mother to be at Curium (well done to the Greenways on Saturday and the Symes earlier in the week for spotting her tracks- she is an awkward one). Finally today we also had several tracks at Long Beach today (Sunday 17th). Well done Aurore and family for marking them. Unfortunately there was no nest this time as the turtle had picked the wrong type of sand but we're pretty sure that she'll be back soon! So a hectic few days and further proof that the turtles do know when co-ordinators have had a night on the town! The tracks as ever were all left in situ although the ones at Curium have been worn away. If you want to take a look at the Long beach tracks start your walk from the west end and look for the sticks near the top of the beach. The first dig is about 50m along, the others are about half way along the beach. On this one she came out of the sea tried digging in one spot, walked left by the rock base dug again and then went back into the sea. Pictures of the tracks and nest have been posted on the photosite.
Somewhat depressingly when Linda and David arrived at Long Beach to check out todays tracks Linda was nearly mown down by a young British Person on a scrambling motorbike who was clearly linked to a group of individuals on quad bikes who were churning up the beach and obscuring the tracks - probably as well she didn't actually nest as it would have been destroyed by these idiots. There was also a SUV parked on the beach which had driven the length of the beach. The SBA police had been alerted and arrived whilst they were there but unfortunately only the SUV was still present at that time. We don't think that he'll make that mistake again!
It is illegal to drive on any beach in Cyprus. If you see anyone driving on any beach in the SBA area (this extends to and includes Avdimou beach) please do not get involved yourself but do call the SBA police on 25 967262.
They are very helpful and very keen on stopping this menace. Alternatively if you know any of the people involved just ask them to stop - it will be far less expensive for them as the fines are quite steep!
Please also call the police if you see anybody fishing with a net or with longlines within 5m depth of water (ie the swimming areas). Please do not bother people with a rod and line as what they are doing is perfectly legal and they often help us out. People spearfishing are also perfectly legal provided they are outside swimming areas. It may not look pretty but it is the least harmful type of fishing that there is.
We are also concerned that turtles are being disturbed on Tunnel and Lemmings beaches when they are trying to nest. We have twice found evidence that they have got as far as building a nest chamber and then have failed to lay. This is extremely unusual on our beaches and only happens if the turtle is subject to extreme fright. In both areas we have found large quantities of dumped glow sticks. Again we think that this is ignorance at work. If you know people (especially youngsters) are on these beaches at night please ask them not to use these sticks (one or two torches with a red filter are much less harmful) and to leave the beach by 1 am at the latest . It would also be better if they usedthe sections of Tunnel and Lemmings near to the existing buildings rather than the more isolated spots that the turtles favour.
9th June
After a quiet start to the season we have now located our first nest thanks to John and Jim. It is a loggerhead nest on Curium Beach approximately 20m east of the Chris Blue Beach Taverna. Based on last years' data we would expect this to hatch at between 50-55 days. Hopefully this turtle will be back in about 14 days to put down another nest.
This is a late start relative to the rest of the island and we have been concerned that groups of people using our beaches (and the Happy Valley Beaches in particular)late at night have been acting as a deterrent to the turtles coming ashore. We have been particularly concerned by the presence of discarded flourescent light sticks in large numbers on what are normally the quietest parts of Tunnel and Lemmings. These emit a very strong white light which nesting turtles would perceive as a threat. We have contacted various media outlets to launch a public awareness campaign in the hope that this will persuade the "offenders" not to use these beaches after midnight. If you are aware of anybody who may be using our beaches late at night could you please politely let them know what problems they may be causing. Often people are unaware that what they are doing may be harmful and are happy to change their habits for a good cause.
We have also been asked to put out a display at the Fusiliers end of Tunnel Beach on 16th June for the benefit of garrison families. If any volunteer would like to drop in for part of the time that we will be there and lend a hand please call Linda (99 307296)
