Marciana Marina and the sea turtles
On the night of July 15-16, 2023, a large loggerhead sea turtle Caretta caretta, after trying on the pebbly beach of La Marina, in front of the gardens and under the streetlights, nested amidst gasps and tears in the sand of the Capitanino beach, inside the port of Marciana Marina.
An abnormal and endangered nesting, too close to the shoreline, which had to contend with storm surges and a sharp drop in temperatures. A nest defended by the sea and guarded by Legambiente and many volunteers-marines and tourists-that finally, after a very long wait, turned out to be very numerous in eggs (101) but unfortunately none had hatched.
A nest, however, that will be very useful for science: biologists from Regione Toscana’s NatNet project, in which the three universities of Pisa, Siena and Florence, along with the Zooprophylactic Institute and ARPAT, are actively participating, have pointed out that these “strange and problematic” nests are perhaps more important than successful nesting to understand what these mama sea turtles are facing in a sea, climate and beaches that are changing so rapidly, and how Caretta caretta are adapting to survive in the Anthropocene.
The tenacious mother turtle that nested on the Capitanino beach reminded the Marinese people of their history that has always been linked to fishing, sailors and the sea, from the birth of the Cotone fishing settlement and then to the leudi, the large, pot-bellied sailboats that brought Elba wine to Liguria, to maritime trade and long-distance sailing. Stories of seines, zaccarene, tuna and
bottom notches, swells, seals and vines that touched the sea. A common history made up of beaches that changed along with a young town and its waterfront, of fishermen, fish, whales, dolphins and turtles tied to the Moletto del pesce to “purge” their reptilian souls, when the relationship between humans and animals was daily and the sea was different from today’s, where turtles to escape the warming of the Mediterranean come to nest further and further north, until they find a miraculous and unfortunate nest next to the Marinese waterfront.
The Caretta caretta turtle “Sea Hope” and its extraordinary eggs kept in the Marinese sand that wasn’t there before tell us about the past, the warm present, and a worrisome future.
The summer of 2023 on Elba ended with an outstanding tally: 8 nests and at least 301 baby turtles hatched (but no one knows how many there were in the mysterious and undiscovered Ortano nest) and 683 eggs deposited in known nests, and a wealth of scientific data that will provide a better understanding of what these magnificent and ancient animals are doing on what has truly become Turtle Island. The nests of these grandiose animals, however, are as delicate in the face of the pitfalls of onlookers as is the strong will of the mothers who create them. Thus, volunteer shifts to guard the nests became necessary, in anticipation and hope that we would be able to see the pups slip out and head for their sea of freedom.
Those who have had this experience know that seeing a large mama turtle nesting or baby turtles emerge from the sand to reach the sea is something you never forget, a thrill not to be missed.
Those interested in lending a hand so that the baby turtles can safely reach the sea and participate in an environmental and scientific experience can contact Legambiente legambientearcipelago@gmail.com