The nesting season for female loggerhead and green sea turtles began in May and will continue through August along Israel’s Mediterranean coast. The females come ashore, dig nests and lay dozens of eggs in each pit. After laying the eggs, a process that can take several hours, the turtle covers the nest and returns to the sea.
Nature and Parks authority volunteers arrived at Ashkelon Beach last week after a volunteer with the Ashkelon scanning team reported finding tracks indicating that a female sea turtle had come ashore. The nest, containing 74 eggs, was moved by the volunteers to the new hatchery at Tel Ashkelon National Park.
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Nesting season for female loggerhead and green sea turtles began in May and will continue through August
(Photo: Israel Nature and Parks Authority)
A few days later, a second loggerhead sea turtle nest was found at Nitzanim Nature Reserve. A volunteer scanner with the Zikim-Ashkelon team identified the turtle’s tracks and protected the nest.
This week, another volunteer scanner from Megadim found tracks left by a female loggerhead sea turtle in Atlit. The authority's inspector arrived at the site and moved 81 eggs to the Hof Galim hatchery.
Early morning scans help protect the eggs from predators and human activity on beaches, the authority says. “Last year, 558 nests were found along Israel’s beaches, including 449 loggerhead sea turtle nests and 109 green sea turtle nests. Most were moved by inspectors, ecologists and certified volunteers to protected hatcheries, where the next generation of sea turtles can develop safely, without the threat of predators, until the hatchlings emerge from the nest and begin their lives in the open sea,” said Rinat Kashi, national coordinator for sea turtle reproduction management and research at the authority's National Sea Turtle Rescue Center.
“Some nests found in nature reserves and national parks are left in place and get protected from predators, with informational signs placed nearby to help preserve the nest in its natural setting,” she added.
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If a turtle cannot lay her eggs undisturbed she will return to the sea without nesting
(Photo: Israel Nature and Parks Authority)
The authority is calling on the public to report sea turtle tracks on beaches as soon as possible, so inspectors can arrive and move nests to protected hatcheries in nature reserves. The effort is especially important on urban beaches, where beachgoer activity is particularly heavy during the summer.
Female sea turtles are extremely sensitive to disturbance. If a turtle cannot lay her eggs undisturbed or find a suitable nesting site, she will return to the sea without nesting. She may try the following day, but if she fails again, she may lay the eggs in the water, where they have almost no chance of survival. In more severe cases, the eggs may remain inside her body, rot and lead to her death.
“The main concern is that female sea turtle tracks may be erased or blurred, leaving nests exposed to human activity or predators such as foxes, jackals, dogs and wild birds,” Kashi said. “When the hatchlings emerge, they may face life-threatening risks, including being stepped on, hit by vehicles, attacked by dogs or disoriented by pollution.”
How to protect female sea turtles and future generations
- If you spot tracks, do not erase them or step on them. This allows inspectors and volunteers to quickly determine whether the turtle came ashore without nesting or laid eggs that require protection.
- Prevent others nearby from disturbing the tracks, including beachgoers, vehicles, pets and tractors that rake the sand.
- Do not try to locate the nest. Report it immediately to the Israel Nature and Parks Authority hotline. If possible, wait near the tracks until volunteers or inspectors arrive.
- Do not try to dig up or move sea turtle nests. This requires professional training by the authority's inspectors, and attempting to move the eggs can kill the embryos.
What should you do if you see a female sea turtle coming ashore to lay eggs?
If you encounter a female sea turtle coming ashore or already digging and laying eggs, report it immediately to the authority's hotline. Keep a distance of at least 20 meters and stand behind the turtle so you do not disturb her or enter her field of vision.
Do not shine flashlights at her or use a phone or camera flash. Keep quiet and do not try to help her in any way. Do not help her return to the sea or erase her tracks.
Do not search for nesting female sea turtles, because doing so could cause serious harm to the survival of the species. Female sea turtles leave clear tracks in the sand. These tracks help inspectors and trained volunteers locate and protect the nests.
Female sea turtles usually return to lay their eggs in the same area where they hatched, while only a small percentage of nests are laid in more distant locations.
The growing use of beaches by humans over the years has destroyed nesting beaches and made reproduction more difficult. Residential and tourism developments, restaurants, roads, factories, marinas, breakwaters and ports reduce the available beach area for nesting females.
Noise, bright lighting and human presence on beaches at night disturb and frighten female sea turtles as they come ashore to lay eggs.