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ARCHIVED - 15 loggerhead turtles hatched in La Manga are returned to the sea
The endangered turtles hatched last year on the beaches of La Manga del Mar Menor in the Cartegena municipality
Fifteen loggerhead turtles have been returned to the sea 12 months after they were born on the beach and at La Manga Recovery Centre.
For the last year, the tiny endangered turtles have been raised in the IMIDA marine facilities in San Pedro del Pinatar and the Oceanográfic of Valencia as part of the 'Headstaring' program, to get them fit and healthy enough to have a fighting chance of survival at sea.
"After a little less than a year of captive breeding in optimal and controlled conditions of temperature and feeding, many of the specimens have reached a sufficient weight and development to be released with a higher chance of survival," explained the director general of the Natural Environment, Fulgencio Perona, who was present at the release on Monday September 13.
A few weeks prior to their release, they were transferred to the Oceanográfic, where they were sexed, and an almost even split between male and female was confirmed.
Perona added: "These turtles come from the second laying of this species documented in our region, which took place last summer on the beach of Ensenada del Esparto".
Part of the clutch was transferred to the Centro de Recuperación de Fauna Silvestre de la Comunidad Autónoma El Valle for incubation, keeping most of the eggs on the beach, in a new nest 500 metres from the original clutch more suitable for their development.
Over the summer months, seven traces of turtles were discovered attempting to spawn as part of the turtle conservation campaign 'Territorio Tortuga', one in La Manga and the remaining six in Calblanque, although no nest was located.
Image: Región de Murcia