Update 25th  September

Our last nest (13 on Long Beach) reaches 44 days on the 27th so we are looking for volunteers to cover night vigils on this - last chance of the year to see hatchlings emerging naturally!

Unfortunately we have had two pieces of bad news.  Nest 12 on Kourion was dug up by persons unknown on the 18th just hours before we were going to excavate it.  Consequently we have no idea what the outcome of this nest was although we did suspect that it was infertile.  Yesterday we also received a report of a dead turtle on Long Beach which we located and buried.  This appears to have been a Green turtle just short of adulthood.  It appears likely that it died 4-5 days earlier probably as a result of entanglement in either a fishing net or long line fishing equipment.  This is the fifth such incident on our 5 beaches this year.  Pissouri and Akrotiri turtlewatches have also reported similar incidents.  Clearly we will be pressing the SBA authorities to make more effort to enforce existing fishing restrictions and we would be grateful if you would likewise voice your concern to them.

 

Update 11th September

Nest 11 on Tunnel east was excavated yesterday evening leaving us with just two to go.   Seven hatchlings were released to the sea on the day making a total of 69.  Unfortunately four hatchlings died in the nest and a further twelve at a fairly advanced state of development.  Not a bad result overall though!  Nest 10 on Curium is still being monitored although due to its damp location anything that we do get out of it will be a bonus.  Vigils on nest 13 on Long Beach will start at around the 27th of the month.

Update 3rd September

Nests 7 & 8 on Curium and Nests 9 and 12 on Tunnel East have now been excavated.  With the exception of nest 7 all can be regarded as having been extremely successful.  Nest 7 was a small nest of 42 eggs laid in very damp sand which effectively prevented 20 of the eggs from developing at all.  Despite this 19 hatchlings did make their way successfully to the sea unaided which was a pleasant surprise - despite constant vigils just 2 tracks had actually been spotted leaving the nest!  The overall results for the season so far are shown below:

Nest	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	12
Total number of eggs	84	117	95	99	96	108	42	75	72	89
Hatchlings released to sea	51	110	47	91	60	88	19	56	61	86
Success %	61	94	50	92	63	81	45	75	85	97

We now have just 3 nests left to hatch - Nest 10 on Curium, nest 11 on Tunnel and nest 13 on Long.  Nest 10 is now at 52 days and anyone wishing to do a vigil should get in touch.  The nest is in a cold spot and may take longer than the others to hatch as a consequence.  We will be monitoring nest 11 on Tunnel from 7 September  and nest 13 on Long from 27 September.  Anyone available for vigils on either nest should get in touch!