Fighting to save turtles in Valencia

FOR every thousand sea turtles that hatch and return to the sea, only one or two survive.

Sea turtles are an endangered species and anyone spotting one a beach should be aware that it will have laid eggs somewhere near.

They are asked to ring the 112 emergency number, after which the Network for Beached Marine Creatures (La Red de Varamientos), will do the rest. Valencian Community nests were discovered in Puçol (Valencia) in 2006, San Juan in 2014 and La Mata in Torrevieja in 2015.

The latest was in Sueca (Valencia) where experts rushed to the beach to ensure the survival of 88 eggs laid four metres from the promenade. The same experts are now debating whether the Sueca turtle returned to where it hatched or if turtles are colonising other areas.

If the latter is true, this would indicate that they are victims of global warming, marine zoologists said.