CRAM FOUNDATION RELEASES A GREEN TURTLE AND FOLLOWS HER JOURNEY THROUGH A SATELLITE TRANSMITTER ATTACHED TO HER CARAPACE.

The CRAM Foundation's scientific boat, the Vell Marí, sailed July 7, 2010 from the port of Premia de Mar (Barcelona) with a exceptional crew member: a green turtle (Chelonia Mydas). The Foundation's veterinary team embarked with the aim of freeing this example very rare in the Mediterranean and named her Bella.

A satellite transmitter was attached to her carapace, revealing her position at all times after being reintroduced into the sea. There are very few precedents for satellite tagging of green turtles in the Mediterranean. This is the first one carried out in the Western Mediterranean and the first in the Mediterranean to be on a juvenile.

Some months have passed since her release and Bella has been successful in issuing a periodic signal that has allowed us to deduce that course of her journey and the use of the habitat. At first, Bella went to the Gulf of Lyon, near the coast of Sète, France, where she spent the hot summer months. In early September, settled in the Bay of Alfacs in the Delta del Ebro (Tarragona), where she remained during the fall and early winter. In late January, she left the shallow waters of the bay to head south, along the cliff of the continental platform to the south of Ibiza. The latest location told us Bella is nearby Algeria

Bella's tracking is the first one carried out on a green turtle in the western Mediterranean, and sheds interesting information on the ecology and behavior of this species in sub-adult stage

The population of Green Turtles in the Mediterranean is very low, about 300 breeding females. They often live in the East, where waters are warmer, and it is rare to find them in the Western area. The rescue of Bella, alive, is considered a peculiar unprecedented stranding on the Mediterranean coast of Catalonia. In the 15 years of rescue and recovery actions of the CRAM Foundation, this is the second time that a specimen of Green Turtle reaches us, and the first time the specimen is alive. The transmitter can follow her journey and the progress of her status in the wild.

CRAM s’encarrega de l’assistència a espècies marines amenaçades avarades al litoral català per encàrrec del Departament de Medi Ambient i Vivenda de la Generalitat des de l’any 1991, atenent les trucades derivades del número d’emergències (112). A part de les tasques de clínica i recuperació, la Fundació CRAM porta a terme diverses línees de treball en conservació i investigació, a més de sensibilitzar i educar sobre el medi marí.

FOLLOW BELLA'S ROUTE

The transmitter's battery is estimated to last approximately one year. After this period, and following the natural shedding that occurs in the shields of the carapace, the transmitter will come off with no lasting effects on the animal. While operating, the journey can be followed through this page or on the following link: Seaturtle.org.

Static image of Bella position