A clutch of sea turtles has been born in Ibiza for the first time ever.
The Caretta caretta belongs to the Cheloniidae family and usually measures around 90cm and weighs in at around 135 kg when fully grown, but some are much heavier, weighing more than 450kg.
A nest of eggs was registered in Cala Nova in July and after 58 days of incubation 10 of them hatched on es Cavallet beach, in the Ses Salines National Park on Thursday. Two others were born in incubators.
The sea turtles have been transferred to the Marine Research & Aquaculture Laboratory, or LIMIA, where they’ll stay until they reach the appropriate weight and size to be released into the sea.
Experts say only one in every 100 of the sea turtles usually survives its first year of life and one in every 1,000 survives reproductive age.
99 eggs were registered in Cala Nova and 79 of them are still in the nest on es Cavallet beach. The rest have been transferred to incubators at the Centre for the Recovery of Fauna of the Balearic Islands, or COFIB in Majorca.
Around 70 volunteers from GEN-GOB, the Ibiza Volunteers Association and the Ses Salines Natural Park Team have been guarding the nest at es Cavallet twenty-four hours a day since August 28 and will be keeping an eye on the nest until the other eggs hatch.
GEN-GOB in Ibiza tweeted the news saying: “To all the volunteers, staff of the Ses Salines Natural Park, CREM, IBANAT, lifeguards...THANK YOU VERY MUCH for making it possible that tonight 10 turtles were born on the beach of Es Cavallet !!!