Who will save the sea turtles?

Michal Dotan Levin, director of communications, the moshavim movement tells about the National Center for Sea Turtles in the trawl

By: Michal Dotan Levin, director of communications, the moshavim movement

As part of a tour conducted by the moshavim movement in the Emek Hefer regional council, I was granted a sneak peek at the national center for saving sea turtles, which is operated by the Nature and Parks Authority in cooperation with the aquaculture program at the Moboa Yam school. I took a look and was hurt, positively of course! And I was led in my mind to return for a deeper acquaintance with the sea turtles, and indeed it was so.
Already at the entrance to the center it is hard to ignore "Eli Marko" a turtle about 35 years old, an amputee, who peeks out from the pool every now and then and receives exclamations of admiration and joy from the passers-by. At the center, they make sure to separate, as much as possible, between the injured and the rehabilitated turtles, this is in light of several reasons: the turtle is defined as a solitary animal (soloist) in addition, injured and rehabilitated turtles may transmit diseases and parasites from one to the other and finally - the brown sea turtle is aggressive and in addition to everything described also "bites ".
The rescue center was established in 99 by Yaniv Levy, then a vigorous student of marine biology and currently serves as the director of the center. The center functions as a hospital, where the injured turtles are sent from all over the country and as a center for creating a breeding nucleus for the green turtles that are in critical danger of extinction in the Mediterranean Sea.
There are 3 species of sea turtles in the Mediterranean, and two of them can be found in the center: the green turtle - which, as mentioned, is in critical danger of extinction and the brown turtle, whose situation is less critical than that of the green turtle, but is still defined as endangered according to the IUCN (or m) and requires close care and supervision.
The turtle is a migratory animal and when a turtle wants to lay her eggs she has a kind of unique mechanism that returns her every time she lays to the beach where she herself was born. Turtles that were born on the shores of Israel 50-60 years ago are returning to lay their eggs today, and this is where the problem begins, as the beaches have undergone significant change over the years (4x4 enthusiasts of all kinds, tourist real estate, etc.), which makes the act of laying difficult and often even damages the eggs After a question has already been asked.
The turtles that have just hatched are attracted to the brightest bone, which sometimes makes them go towards the roads instead of going to the sea... Add to that the culture of spending time on the beaches, the lighting on the beach, bonfires, parties and what not, all of these confuse the little turtles that have just hatched from their eggs and that I mentioned earlier, are attracted to the bright lights, get lost in the sands, run over, devoured or starve to death.
In addition, the extinction is also due to the fishing load that seriously harms the turtles. The turtles become entangled in the fishing lines, are injured by the hooks and often have their limbs amputated, a common sight in the center. These fishing methods are legal and cannot be banned, but there are types of hooks that significantly reduce the damage to turtles.
In order to try and increase the population of green turtles, the center operates the "Green Project" - creating a breeding nucleus for the green turtles. In the project, hatchlings were taken and they are raised in captivity by the people of the center, with the aim of bringing them to the age of sexual maturity (following the captivity and the ideal conditions - sexual maturity is already defined from 10 years), create reproduction in captivity and then release the next generation into the wild.
Many volunteers are involved in the project: fishermen from Jaffa, who donate their fishing residues that are used as food for the turtles, students from the Maritime College and researchers who collect data on situations that die and are washed ashore, and everything is supported by cross-continental cooperation. This cooperation is necessary to maintain the population of green turtles without the migration of these, after spawning.
Israel is a signatory to the Barcelona Convention which prohibits illegal hunting and is committed to the whole world to protect sea turtles. The sea turtles are often used as a flag for the general protection of many animals. Perhaps due to the fact that it is really impossible to resist the charms of a turtle, when it is chewing lettuce, even more so when it is a turtle with amputated limbs.
The moshavim movement is the flag bearer for the preservation and development of the rural space in Israel. Without the population of citrus animals in our neighborhood, we will not be able to maintain a green rural space for a long time. A green rural area is the country's garden and produces many benefits such as green lungs, diverse agricultural produce, rural tourism and an adequate solution to the wastewater problem.
It is necessary to act and bring to the public's mind the importance of maintaining designated beaches, which will be free of bathers, recreation sites and construction. The sea is the home of the protected sea turtle, and therefore anyone who harms the sea, whether by pollution or by defacing the beach, actually harms this protected animal and harms the entire countryside, which is enjoyed by all the residents of the State of Israel.