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Marine Turtle Newsletter 71:7-9, © 1995

Marine Turtle Newsletter-Online

FONDAZIONE CETACEA AND THE CONSERVATION OF SEA TURTLES

Fondazione Cetacea, a non-profit organization established in 1988 for the study and protection of the marine environment, administers the educational and scientific activities of the Adriatic Sea World/Delphinarium Riccione (ASW) and, since 1993, of the Aquatic World/ Delfinario Cattolica (AW) as well. As participants in the National Turtle Project (Argano, 1979) and as members of the Centro Studi Cetacei (Cagnolaro, 1985), we receive reports of injured sea turtles from both harbour and CITES offices, as well as from private citizens. Herein we report the results of ASW's and AW's activities in recovering injured turtles since 1986, a program which has been run by Fondazione Cetacea since 1988. To facilitate reporting, we collaborated with WWF Italia in 1993 to establish "ONDE DAL MARE" [Waves from the Sea], a radio- telephone network (VHF Radio, channel 74 - 156.725 MHz; phone number, +39-541-693675) which makes the reporting of cetacean and turtle sightings, and environmental problems in general, easier. This project is supported by the Italian Department of Environment and the Postmaster General.

The area of the Adriatic coast (the northeast coast of Italy) with which we are involved is between Senigallia (Ancona), the southernmost point, and Lido Volano (Ferrara) to the north. In this area, the most frequent turtle injuries (such as carapace damage) are caused by intensive fishing activity and heavy sea traffic, as has been noted by other authors in the Mediterranean (e.g., Bentivegna et al., 1993 ). After recuperative periods in captivity, the animals are returned to the wild, sometimes with the cooperation of local fishermen. Because of a lack of scientific data regarding care in captivity, we often proceed experimentally or contact other groups in Italy working under similar circumstances in order to compare information. ASW and AW greatly assist in the recovery of injured turtles by making rehabilitation pools (including portable pools and a sea-water pre-filtered pool, 400 x 200 cm) available to us for this work.

From 1986 to 1994, Fondazione Cetacea received reports of 130 injured turtles (Figure 1). About half (49.23%) of these individuals were stranded along the Northern Adriatic coast. Most of the remaining half were either entangled in fishing gear or found floating adrift (Figure 2). Forty-three of the recovered turtles were eventually tagged (cf. Pritchard et al., 1983) and released. In 1993 we noticed an increase in the number of injured turtles. We responded to reports concerning 53 loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta). In one case, four loggerheads were accidentally caught together in the same fishing gear (long lines). All 53 turtles were eventually released, including 18 which were tagged prior to release. Stranded turtles are typically decomposed and the cause of death cannot be determined in the majority of cases. Since 1994, gut contents and whole parasites have been fixed in 70% ethanol for identification. In addition, tissue samples from fresh carcasses are sampled for the analysis of contaminants.

In addition to our rehabilitation program, we are working to increase people's awareness of the depleted status of the loggerhead turtle in the Mediterranean. To this end, two local dolphinaria facilities illustrate the conservation policy of Fondazione Cetacea.

Figure 1
Figure 1. Distribution of curved carapace lengths of loggerhead turtles (n=130) examined between 1986 and 1994.

Figure 2
Figure 2. Reasons for which sea turtles were brought to Fondazione Cetacea for rehabilitation between 1986 and 1994.

Argano, R. 1979. Preliminary report on Western Mediterranean Sea Turtles. Annual Report on WWF Project No. 1474. Unpubl.

Cagnolaro, L. 1985. Il 1° Convegno Nazionale sui Cetacei ed il "Centro Studi Cetacei" della Societ… Italiana di Scienze Naturali. Natura, Soc. ital. Sci. nat., Museo civ. Stor. nat. e Acquario civ., Milano 76(1-4):118-120.

Bentivegna F., P. Cirino and A. Toscano. 1993. Care and treatment of loggerhead sea turtles from the Gulf of Naples, Italy. Marine Turtle Newsletter 61:6-7. Pritchard, P. C. H. et al. 1983. Manual of Sea Turtle Research and Conservation Techniques, Second Edition. K. A. Bjorndal and G. H. Balazs, Editors. Center for Environmental Education, Washington D. C. 125pp.

CRISTINA MEOTTI, ALESSANDRO BORTOLOTTO and LEANDRO A. STANZANI, Fondazione Cetacea, via Milano 63, 47036 Riccione (RN), ITALY