The ARCHELON Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Centre is located in Glyfada, Greece. It relies on the work and commitment of volunteers to rehabilitate sea turtles that are found injured along the coasts of Greece.
Most sea turtles are injured by being accidentally caught in fishing nets or on fishing hooks. A significant number is further injured by deliberate injuries from the fishermen that catch them.
A responsible fisherman who finds an injured turtle can help rescue her by getting in touch with the coast guards. These fortunate turtles will be transferred to the Sea Turtle Rescue Centre
On average 50 turtles are sent to the Rescue Centre every year, and about two thirds will recover and be released back into the sea. This takes usually from 6 months to a year. They receive various therapies and kept in tanks until they can be safely returned to the sea.
Most turtles arrive during the spring and summer. Sea temperatures are high and turtles come to nest. We receive less turtles during the winter months.
All injured turtles are given a name by the people who help save them or sometimes by volunteers who care for them. There are currently 16 turtles at the ARCHELON Sea Turtle Rescue Centre, with a variety of injuries and durations of stay. The following paragraphs are a short presentation of each turtle by the volunteers who treat them.
Mina
Mina is currently the longest resident at the Rescue Centre, with her stay totalling just over eight years. Originally coming in from Salamina with a deep head injury, she weighed just below 15kg. Now, after eight years at the Centre, she is 29kg. She has been tube-fed for the duration of her stay, and is currently tube-fed three times a week, during which she is notoriously feisty and known as quite the troublemaker. Although Mina has never eaten on her own since her arrival, her level of activity has varied through the years, sometimes very inactive, floating, other times diving a lot, even spending some time in a large tank.
By Molly
Marina
Marina was found at a beach nearby Gerani on Crete in the summer of 2007. Due to the fact that ARCHELON has beach projects on Crete to protect the nests of Caretta caretta, the turtle was in the right hands and within one day in the Rescue Centre in Athens. Marina had a deep head injury above the right eye and a hook ingestion. Now she had been in the Rescue Centre for 3 years. As I can see from our documents, her hook could be removed very soon after her arrival in the Rescue Centre. Furthermore she has made a lot of antibiotics, she got tubefed for a period of time and even in 2009 the rescue center staff was worried about her reactions of her right eye, which could have been damaged due to the wound above. Even more positive I can see the impression I got of her in the last half of a year I have been in Greece: No hint of all this difficulties any more! Apart from the fact that tubefeeding would take us volunteers a big effort (she has 85kg and had 54,9 when she arrived), she eats continuously fish. Her head injury is almost healed and because she swam in the biggest of ARCHELON’s tanks in the summer time, she was the most presentable turtle. Marina was the reason for wide open mouths of kids and adults. As soon as she loses her incline (head down tendency) our biggest turtle of the Rescue Centre will be released in the freedom of the sea.
We are quite confident and optimistic that it will happen next spring, when she has the chance to swim in the outside tanks of ARCHELON again, where it is too cold for the animals in the winter time.
By Johannes
Nondas
Nondas is a stubborn turtle who seems to think he is staying in a hotel rather than a Rescue Centre. Although he appears to be in perfect health having recovered from the neck injury he arrived with in summer 2008, we cannot release him as he refuses to eat regularly or on his own. He will however usually eat if he is handfed by a patient volunteer using forceps, as long as the fish pieces are mackerel, and of the right size. He won’t eat fish heads, but loves the guts, and will often make you wait up to 30 minutes with your arm in the water offering a piece of fish before he takes a bite.
At 25kg Nondas is still a teenage turtle of unknown sex, he has a distinctive colour of brown to his carapace which is much lighter than most of the other turtles, he can also be easily recognized by his flipper flapping on the side of the tank and surface of the water to attract attention to his teenage tantrums.
By Lindsey
Aristotelis
Aristotelis is a small sea turtle that came on the 25th of August 2009 from Thessaloniki. He had many small but deep injuries on his head and face, and these need regular treatment and cleaning because if the skin above the wounds closes before they heal properly, there is a risk of cysts which may be infected.
His length is around 40cm and his initial weight was 8kg. He wouldn’t eat on his own, but he was tube-fed with mashed fish. Since summer 2010 he has been eating on his own and has already gained some weight. His wounds are also much better and we hope to release him as soon as summer starts.
By Ida
Pothea
Pothea is from Telendos and the problem with her is that she has a lung infection and a broken plastron. She was named after Princess Pothea a local legend. She is the only green turtle we have currently and she likes lettuce and vegetables because she eats more sea grass in the wild. Pothea is much better now and before and hopefully we can release soon as possible. Pothea is a very nice turtle.
By Ida
Marilena
Marilena is a very stubborn female from Lefkada. She is a big female on 35kg that came to the Rescue Centre on the 4th of May 2010 with a deep head injury. Her head is getting treatment daily and today, the injury is more or less healed. She just keeps getting stronger, especially since she started eating by herself in September.
And as earlier mentioned, Marilena is extremely stubborn, and if she does not want to do anything then it is really hard to make her. Like cleaning, Marilena does not like getting herself and her tank cleaned. Perhaps she simply likes dirt.
Marilena also had an incline to the left, but after she got a weight on her right side to balance her out, and she is now swimming straight once again.
By Rebecca
Cleo
Cleo is a big female of 45kg that came to the Rescue Centre on the 15th of June 2010. She had a big head injury and did not eat. We treated her head wound daily and gave her antibiotics.
She was tube fed until September, when one day, she finally decided to eat. And ate she did. She must be the hungriest turtle on the centre. To day she is eating 700g per day, which is a lot, and always greets you with a wide open mouth in hopes that you will give her even more.
She was moved out in one of the big tanks in the end of September but is now inside the green house again over the winter.
Except for being an unusually social turtle, Cleo is quite a hazard when you take the water temperature, because if you’re not careful, she just might try to eat the thermometer and your hand with it.
By Rebecca
Cleo arrived by ferry on 15th June 2010. She was located in the area of Paros with a large head injury and a broken left hind flipper. She weighed 42 kg on arrival and her carapace length is 79 cm. She is not yet fully-mature and, due to her extensive head injury, was tube-fed for the first three months of her stay at the Rescue Centre. Once she regained her strength and started to feed on her own, we put her in one of the larger tanks outside. She has a very inquisitive nature and is a strong swimmer; she loves diving and circling her tank, and popping her head above the waterline to see what’s going on! Her head wound is healing very well and she was subsequently due for release in early December. Unfortunately, the air temperature dropped rapidly and she will have to remain in the glass house until the weather gets warmer in the spring. The cold air can be a shock to the lungs and sometimes cause pneumonia.
Cleo’s head wound is very likely the result of human inflicted injuries. Injuries to the head whether on purpose or accidental are a common injury for sea turtles in Greece. They need to come to the surface to breath, which leaves them vulnerable to propellers or an inhumane hand. We regularly treat the wound with sodium chloride and a diluted Betadine solution. This aids the healing process by ensuring no further infection sets in and keeping clean the soft tissue around the wound. At the rehabilitation centre she feeds on fish and squid, and always swims up to greet me with her mouth agape. She is a mucky eater and always leaves big chunks of fish and squid at the bottom of her tank. After spending several months in the freedom of the larger tank she is finding the small tank a very frustrating experience! However, once the gauze is over her eyes for any kind of treatment she relaxes and lets us get on with the job of looking after her. She is a grateful patient and is no doubt looking forward to being released back in to the wild soon where she will return to her normal diet of crustaceans and jellyfish.
By Duncan
Kanella
Kanella is a 30kg male turtle from Neapoli of Lakonia. We did not know the sex of him when he arrived therefore the girly name, with his right front flipper missing. He had gotten caught in a fishnet, and in his attempts to get free, torn of his own flipper. Despite injuries to her other flippers, we were able to save them.
So when Kanella came to the centre in July, he had a bone poking out that needed to be amputated. The amputation took place in November (tried before), when an Italian surgical vet team came over to operate Kanella and 4 other turtles. After the surgery Kanella was pretty slow and did not really want to eat.
He got slowly better with the eating but the wound did not look right, even though we were treating it every day. When your vet, Lito, took a look at it and realized that it had been infected inside, she started to take out the not healing tissue.
The wound was pretty bad, so we took Kanella to Lito’s clinic where she had the proper instruments to close the wound. Afterwards, Kanella got to spend the night in the office with a nice heater. Kanella is now back in the tank, he is getting antibiotics but thankfully, is still eating.
By Rebecca
Artemis
Artemis has been at the rescue centre since the 15th of July 2010. It came at the Centre because of a hook ingestion. During the time it has been here it has started to eat by itself and also has since the first day been a lively turtle. It had an operation to remove the hook, and the injury got initially infected. Our vet, Lito Kritseli, reopened the wound and treated it, and it is now steadily healing.
By Wilhelm
Pelagia
Pelagia came to the Rescue Centre in July 2010 with a head injury from a boat propeller. Brought in at 45kg, she now weighs 54kg and is 73cm long. Although she is not currently eating on her own, she is tube-fed four times a week and we hope that she will begin to eat on her own as her head continues to heal. Her head is still quite fragile, and one eye swollen shut. Current treatments include the cleaning of her head wound every day, tube-feeding, and the cleaning and sealing of a neck sore.
By Molly
Andreas
Andreas came to the Centre quite recently and has been steadily recovering from his (head injury?), so far the treatments are going good and it seems like the future looks bright for him!
By Wilhelm
Dina
Dina is a medium-sized female Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta) with a carapace length of 67.5 cm. She arrived at the ARCHELON Sea Turtle Rescue Centre by bus on 23rd August 2010 with an extensive injury to the top of her head. Her weight on arrival was a mere 29.5 kg, so she had to be tube-fed with a protein-rich diet. She soon put on weight in the succeeding weeks thanks to the advice of the vet and the hard efforts of the volunteers. Her favourred food is fish and squid, and her current weight is a much-improved 35 kg! Unfortunately, the shock of her injury has caused Dina to remain relatively sedentary in her tank. We have put a blue tarpaulin over part of her tank to shield her from all the movement and activity in the glass house, which allows her to rest and recuperate. During my weekly visits to the Rescue Centre I enjoy spending time beside Dina’s tank and observing her. I like to think that she has come to recognise my face and my voice.
Due to the severity of her head injury she has likely done extensive damage to the nerves and muscle tissue in her neck. Her head subsequently tilts to the left and her hind flippers are tightly tucked under her carapace; a sure sign of stress and discomfort. Her injury has all the hallmarks of blunt force trauma, most likely a cruel human stike, and will take a great deal of time to heal. Despite this grim prognosis, Dina is a true testament to the robust nature of these extraordinary animals. Loggerhead Sea Turtles have remained unchanged in the fossil record for approximately 40 million years, and their tough armoured exterior helps to protect them from injury. What I find most amazing about Dina is her will and determination to get better and return to the wild. She likes to watch me as I work in the green house and I know in my heart that she is grateful for everything that we’re doing to help her. We all wish her a speedy recovery!
By Duncan
Kostas
Every day when the morning observation needs to be done you can see Kostas resting on the bottom of his tank. But the appearances are deceptive. He is not at all relaxed! The gentlest vibration lets him rouse from his ‘sleeping position’. For sure he has some reason. Kostas is blind! But he is able to bite. Arrived in the end of August and found in Evia, he revealed his skills in being quite stubborn, which lets him be lovely as well. As soon as he starts to eat fish and no tubefeed anymore, he is going to be the best candidate for a place in an aquarium – and that he is able to be progressive we have already seen on his development of getting weight: He gained 3kg in his time at the Rescue Centre and has now 30kg.
By Johannes
Smaro
Smaro is a 45kg male with a girl’s name, and I don’t think he’s happy about it. He was found in Kopraina of Amvrakikos Bay in the summer of 2010 by members of the ARCHELON’s team who were tagging turtles there, and brought to the Sea Turtle Rescue Centre with suspected pneumonia.
Smaro has recently begun to eat fish on his own, which is great news. He was being tube fed twice a week until we discovered that although he wouldn’t touch fish or squid, he did have an appetite for sea urchins. This meant that someone had to regularly venture into the sea to dive for urchins for his dinner. Now he is eating fish we only fetch urchins occasionally for a treat.
By Lindsey
Damaskinia
“Damaskinia”, was named after one of the children that found her. She was spotted a few days ago weak and exhausted, in the harbour of Lavrio. The rescuers took her to the Port authorities who contacted us. Pavlos Tsaros, the rehabilitation officer along with, Duncan Howitt-Marshall a devoted Ambassador and appreciable supporter, and the precious help of his friend Rosa Tsakona, who happily offered her car were able to transfer the sea turtle to the Sea Turtle Rescue Centre of Glyfada,
While she had no visible external wounds, she was covered many small barnacles both on her carapace and plastron. A check in her throat showed that she had swallowed a hook. This was confirmed the following day with and x-ray made at the medical centre of Glyfada BIOCARE.
After a week of antibiotics and drips, Pavlos Tsaros, the Rehabilitation Officer of the Rescue Center with one of the volunteers took the turtle to the surgery room of our specialized veterinarian Lito Kritseli so that she could remove the hook from the oesophagus of the turtle. In addition to the hook, Lito also found a small injury on the right side of the turtle’s jaw and a couple of small holes in her oesophagus made by the same hook. This most likely happened when the hook made it way into the oesophagus.
Lito removed the hook from the back of the turtle’s oesophagus and closed the smaller wounds with stitches. The holes in her oesophagus were very small and too deep to reach. They should close on their own.
As a precaution, we didn’t put the turtle straight back into her tank; we let her stay in a warm space in a box. This ensured an initial closure of the wounds.
The following day, we examined Damaskinia before placing her back in her tanks equipped with a couple of heaters. Once in the water, the turtle started swimming. We will begin to feed her in a few days. We hope that by May, she will be fit to be released and set off for a long journey.