NElla Natural Reserve of Torre Salsa, in the province of Agrigento, was even organized dedicated ecological day, entitled Caretta Caretta: the year of records. But 2025 was a special year throughout Italy for the common marine turtle. From the first nest discovered on 19 June in Celle Ligure, 13 out of 15 regions of sea were found. The nests found are 30% more than 2024. In short, a real boom. What is going on?
Caretta Caretta, the history of sea turtles in Italy
The first nests in Agrigento territory were found in 1988, since then, between Lampedusa, Porto Palo and Torre Salsa, they have multiplied. But over time the Caretta Caretta began to move, overcoming the Sicily channel.
It is no coincidence. As Legambiente explains on his site, it is one History of adaptation to the most interesting and fascinating climate change. If until a few decades ago turtles nidified almost exclusively on the eastern coasts of the Mediterranean (such as Greece, Türkiye and Cyprus), today the new generations are increasingly chosen the western coasts. Until a few years ago there were only a few dozen nests: 20 in 2014, 30 in 2015, 40 in 2016, 50 nests in 2017 and so on and then gradually move on to a more sudden increase between 2020 (80 nests surveyed) at 2021 (244 nests). Until the record of 601 in 2024.
A story of adaptation to climate change
Lazio, Tuscany, Liguria and even lesser known features of the Adriatic coast are recording nesting attempts that would have been unthinkable until a few years ago. Locations such as the Delta del Po or the Ligurian Riviera begin to appear in the monitoring relationships, highlighting how The species is exploring and colonizing new environments.
The phenomenon is due toRaise of the average annual temperatures in the Mediterranean basin. It is 1.4 ° C more than the late 1800s. About +0.4 ° C for each of the last decades, and projections for the 2100 vary between +1.8 ° C and +3.5 ° C on average compared to the period between 1961 and 1990. The experts explicitly associated the constant trend of heating the waters with the increase in the number of Caretta Caretta nests on the western western Mediterranean coasts.
(Photo by Orthan Cicek/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Caretta Caretta are exploring Italy
Turtles are changing their habits surprisingly, demonstrating an adaptive potential higher than as hypothesized. If, in fact, By nature they nidify the sites where they were born (Relaxation of Nest-Site Fidelity), it is clear that today They are more flexible. According to the data collected by the European project Life Turtlest (coordinated by Legambiente and with the scientific direction of the Naples zoological station) the species embraced Philopatry Relaxation. That is, less rigidity in the return to birth sites for the deposition.
The protection of biodiversity on tourist beaches
“It is an unequivocal trend, which requires us to equip us in time,” explains Stefano Di Marco, coordinator of the Legambiente Projects Office and Project Manager of the Life Turtlest.
Many of the beaches affected by the new geographical expansion are in fact found in densely urbanized areas or subject to strong tourist pressure. «To effectively protect the new nesting areas, a solid alliance is needed. The scientific community must collect and interpret data, environmental associations must protect nests by involving citizens, local administrations and regions must guarantee the protection of these areas e Tourism operators must collaborate by adopting sustainable practices». In the awareness that the presence of sea turtles, In addition to a wealth in terms of biodiversity, it is a resource from a socio -economic point of view.