VIDEO: 31 loggerhead turtles hatch on beach in Marbella
31 loggerhead turtles have hatched on Playa Nueva Andalucía in Marbella, only the second time ever on a Costa del Sol beach, in a nest that has been watched and guarded for two months in front of the Guadalpín Banús hotel. The newly born hatchlings have been taken to the Centro de Gestión del Medio Marino Andaluz (CEGMA), in Algeciras, and there are a further 29 eggs in the nest still to hatch.
These hatchlings are added to the eight that were placed in an incubator at Bioparc Fuengirola, making a total of 39 hatchlings in Algeciras. The nest hatchlings have undergone initial check-ups, and biometrics, and have been weighed and individually identified, before being introduced into water, where they have proved already to be good swimmers.
The turtles will remain in captivity for at least a year at CEGMA, as the mortality rate of hatchlings of this species is above 95% in the wild. Once they have spent their first months under veterinary supervision, a percentage will be transferred to the Seville Aquarium, where they will form part of a breeding program with a view to maximising the survival of the species.
However, they will return to their natural environment in summer 2024, in the hope that once they are adults these females will once again choose the Costa del Sol to lay their eggs, as this species always returns to the beaches of their birth to reproduce, a phenomenon called philopatry.
Marbella’s councillor for Beaches, Diego López, said that "during all this time the management has been exemplary, not only by the administrations and groups involved but also by other organisations that have been fundamental for us to be able to celebrate the birth of the hatchlings on Nueva Andalucía beach." López thanked the volunteers who responded to the town hall’s call to safeguard the eggs on 8th July.
This is the fourth nest in Andalucía in the last 15 years, although it is a growing phenomenon as in 2023 alone as 23 loggerhead turtle nests have been recorded on the beaches in Malaga province; the only province in Andalucía to have recorded their presence this year.
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