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Turtle Watching in Cyprus
Since 1992, Marine Turtle Research group, in conjunction with the Society for
the Protection of Turtles in Northern Cyprus and the Department for Environmental
Protection, has been undertaking an annual survey, recording the turtles activity
during the summer months.
In the company of the team at Alagadi Beach (30 minutes drive from Kyrenia) you
can share this unique event.
Just before sunset you join the students at their base, "The Goat Shed"
at Alagadi. First you are given information about the turles and the project,
and then, when darkness falls, you will be taken down to one of the two Alagadi
bays. There you will wait while the students survey the beaches. As soon as
a female has begun to lay, you are, in slience, allowed to approach the nesting
place. (No photoflashes are allowed at this important time.)
And there, before your eyes, you can witness this one hundred million year
old wonder, as soon after the other these mother-of-pearl shimmering eggs, the
size of table tennis balls, are dropped into the nest cavity.
On a lucky night you will be able to experience this u nique happening several
times before you return to your hotel, tired but happy.
Incubation is indeed not by the female turtles but by the warmth of the Cyprus
sunshine. After about 50 days the small hatchlings begin to emerge from the
surface of their sandy nests.
This is another fantastic experience that takes place in some forty nesting
beaches around Northern Cyprus.
All are welcome to participate in this event as well to witness up to a hundred
of these amazing little creatures, not more than 6-7 cm long, fight their way
from the nest down to the sea, is an unforgettable sight. It is sad fact that
only one in thousand survive. Even less would survive if it was not for the
special conversation project taking place here in North Cyprus concerning this
endangered species.
We feel it is our responsibility to help these creatures to survive and to
be able to continue, without threat to their nesting grounds, to visit our island.
This has been their home much longer than it has been ours.
The best times to observe the nesting in Cyprus is at the end of June and beginning of
July. To observe the hatching is the best during end of August and beginning
of September.
The Akamas Peninsula to the north west of Paphos also is a unique area which has become
almost identical with the Lara hatchery and its beaches, home to the green and
logger-head turtles. Here they lay their eggs, undisturbed by civilization. Once
the hatchlings emerge from their shells, they head instinctively for the sea.
The bright light of the water draws the tiny turtles towards it like a magnet.
The mother turtles are also bound by their natural environment and, having laid
their eggs, they too head back to the sea, as they have done for centuries.
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