Encounter with a dead sea turtle

This morning, while surveying the waters of the Gulf in search for dolphins, a dead loggerhead sea turtle Caretta caretta was found floating adrift.

Examination of the corpse was carried out by our team from the research boat. Decomposition was not advanced, indicating that death had probably occurred less than 24 hours before.

It was a female with a carapace length of 70 cm. who presented clear signs of by-catch in a trammel net. There was a piece of net protruding from the beak and entangled around the turtle's head.

Loggerhead turtles are a common sight in the Amvrakikos Gulf. Since Tethys started to work in this area back in year 2001, over 300 sightings of this species have been recorded. However, this is the first time we have found a dead animal with signs of by-catch in a fishing net.

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