Three loggerhead turtles released at Cofete beach in Fuerteventura
The Cabildo of Fuerteventura, through the Environment service directed by Carlos Rodríguez, has released on May 9, on Cofete beach, Simon, Willy, and Anis, three specimens of loggerhead turtle ( Caretta caretta ) equipped with a satellite tracking device with the aim of studying their movement over the next few months.
These three turtles join the other three (Albi, Chofe and Ajuy) released in 2023 within the 'Oceanographic Turtles' project on the behavior of turtles as a sentinel species of climate change in the Macaronesian region.
On April 27, 2024, ADS Biodiversity experts placed a satellite device financed by the Fuerteventura Cabildo on their shells, turning them into new sentinel turtles of climate change, which, together with their predecessors, will provide very valuable information. on the adaptation process and habitat use of the loggerhead sea turtle in the northeastern Atlantic, as well as relevant oceanographic data from the Macaronesian region.
Simon, Willy, and Anis are three juvenile turtles from the program 'Expansion of the reproductive habitat of the loggerhead turtle in Macaronesia', implemented by the Government of the Canary Islands, the Government of Cape Verde, the Island Corporation, and the ADS Biodiversity association. They were born in October 2010 on Cofete beach and were raised in the facilities of the Morro Jable Recovery and Conservation Center. Simon is a 13-year-old male, currently weighing 61.0 kg and measuring 81.5 cm in carapace length. Willy is a 13-year-old female, weighing 61.0 kg and measuring 79.3 cm in shell length, and Anis is a 13-year-old female weighing 42.0 kg and measuring 69.5 cm in shell length.
The Minister of the Environment, Carlos Rodríguez, highlighted the importance of this initiative that "will allow us to improve knowledge about the loggerhead turtle in the northeastern Atlantic, as well as obtain relevant oceanographic data from oceanic structures in the Macaronesian region."
Over the next few months, the Animal Moca-up team, made up of sea turtle experts from ADS Biodiversity, oceanographers from the OFyGA research group of the IU ECOAQUA of the ULPGC, as well as technicians from the Cabildo, will compile and analyze all the data provided. for these 3 copies.
The main movements and data of these “sentinel turtles”, along with their predecessors, are available on the website: www.animalmoca-up.com, section `SENTINELS OF CLIM. CHANGE´.
Previous experience
In 2018, the Cabildo of Fuerteventura already carried out this experience, with the release in Cofete of five turtles monitored with satellite devices: Tomás, Martina, NT, Tropi and Oasis Dream. According to ADS Biodiversity experts, the male turtles followed a similar pattern of behavior, remaining in areas near the African coast, between the south of the Iberian Peninsula and Cape Verde. For its part, the only female turtle, Martina, crossed the Atlantic and reached American waters in the United States, at which point the transmission was lost.
