The liberations of sea turtles

On Wednesday May 21st we went to Marina Lobra to free three sea turtles. Many children from different schools were there to watch the liberations. We all got on three different boats to free the sea turtles at sea. Indeed it is dangerous to free sea turtles next to many boats. The children and their teachers could watch the liberations from their boat.

 

On Monday May 26 we had the opportunity to free three sea turtles at Marina del Cantone. They had been hurt and were looked after at the Anton Dohrn’s Zoological Station in Napoli before being liberated. On that day we also had the opportunity to meet pupils from different schools around Massa Lubrense and children swimming with their parents at Marina del Cantone. They could look at the sea turtles closely, and they all wanted to caress the animals. Unfortunately it was forbidden so the sea turtles would not be stressed.

We talked with the children and gave them information about different aspects of a sea turtle’s life: the migration, the nesting, and the dangers of fishing. We had prepared games for the children. One group had prepared a role-playing game in which the children were a sea turtle that wanted to lay eggs, and bay sea turtles that wanted to go to the sea. In order to do so they had to avoid obstacles on the beach and find a good spot to make a nest, then had to run away from a seagull and a fox to reach the sea. Another group had four boxes to show the children four types of fishing nets. The children had to guess which type was the most lethal and which type caught most sea turtles. A third group explained the migration of sea turtles thanks to two maps and gave more details while doing a quiz.

After the games the sea turtles were taken on a boat, and everybody followed them. In order to free them safely we had to sail far away from the shore given the big number of boats there, like in Marina Lobre. They could eventually go back to their habitat and swim happily near Punta Penna.

All the kids paid attention and were respectful, and also very happy to be able to see sea turtles and to learn more about them.

 

We went to a beach near Napoli two days later to watch the liberation of four sea turtles. The situation was different. We didn’t have time to play with the children there or to give them information about sea turtles. However as there were no boats, the sea turtles were liberated on the beach, and everybody could watch the liberations the feet in the sand. Every liberation was followed by screams and applause as it was in Marina Lobra and Marina del Cantone.