North Cyprus Turtles

Among the many things Northern Cyprus is famous for, including its golden sandy beaches, stunning mountains, fairytale castles and wild orchids, the turtles who nest in North Cyprus have to be one of the most unique features of the island.

The green and loggerhead turtles favour the same clean and sandy beaches that the human residents and visitors to Northern Cyprus do, making their habitat vulnerable and in need of active protection.

Green Turtles - Chelonia Mydas

Green turtles are to be found in the coastal waters of around 140 countries worldwide and yet their numbers are few, furthermore the average number of female turtles successfully nesting yearly has dropped by 48% over the last three generations. As a result of this and other factors green turtles are considered to be an endangered species.

The biggest threat to the continued development and survival of these turtles is the human. Turtles are vulnerable to human exploitation at all stages of their life, from egg to adulthood, as some humans like to harvest them for collection and/or sale. Furthermore the active development of the turtles’ favoured nesting grounds can alter their behavioural patterns making the females less likely to lay. In areas where development close to nesting grounds has occurred and females have continued to lay, the increase in unnatural light sources has led to increased infant mortality numbers as the baby turtles are attracted to the light sources instead of to the sea.

The turtles who successfully hatch and make it to adulthood enjoy tropical and subtropical waters and are highly migratory, perhaps traversing thousands of kilometres of ocean between feeding grounds and nesting areas during their lifetime. They forage and feed on sea grass and marine algae which turns their body fat green...which is why they’re called green turtles! They are herbivores, cold-blooded, they breathe air and they are directly descended from reptiles who evolved over 150 million years ago...meaning they have more right to the beaches of Northern Cyprus than we do!

Happily though we can share the most popular beaches with the turtles as the government of Northern Cyprus and various wildlife protection agencies monitor and police the beaches most popular with the nesting females during the egg-laying and hatching months of May to October. During these months humans are allowed to use the beaches only during daylight hours, and after dark no artificial light sources are allowed near the nesting habitats. Nests are monitored and protected until the eggs hatch and the baby turtles return to the sea.

Loggerhead Turtles - Caretta Caretta

These reptiles are the most common of the turtles found in the Mediterranean, that does not mean that they are plentiful in number though, and just like the green turtle, the loggerhead turtle is also considered to be an endangered species.

These turtles are particularly vulnerable to accidental capture in fishing nets because they are just so big, in fact the average adult’s shell or carapace grows to 92cm long! Also nowadays the loggerhead turtles’ favourite nesting beaches are under increased threat from tourist development.

Just like the green turtle, the loggerhead species are highly migratory - in fact they are the most migratory of almost all the marine turtles sometimes traversing entire open oceans. The loggerhead turtles who favour the long, clean, sandy and undeveloped beaches of Northern Cyprus are protected and monitored by the Society for the Protection of Turtles. They work tirelessly throughout the season monitoring nests, protecting eggs and nurturing the babies until they are big and strong enough to head out to sea.

Occasionally it’s necessary to carefully relocate nests if they are too close to the sea and in danger of flooding and sometimes it’s also necessary to remove hatchlings to incubatory facilities when they are not deemed strong enough for sea survival. As soon as they are tough enough they are of course released back out into the ocean.

If you visit North Cyprus during the summer months please be respectful of the turtle nesting grounds, obey the signs telling you when and how you can use beaches and help us save the North Cyprus turtles from extinction.