Sea turtles and Mediterranean monk seals are increasingly appearing on Albanian shores as a result of climate change, but their survival is threatened by various human activities.
The loggerhead sea turtle is one of the rare species that frequents Albania’s shores. It is fortunate when a turtle is found alive in fishermen’s nets. In most cases, they get trapped in the nets for a long time without being able to come to the surface for breathing.
Fishermen’s nets pose the main risk to endangered species.
Sea turtles are ancient creatures that appeared around 110 million years ago and are known as contemporaries of dinosaurs. They are protected by the Endangered Species Act of 1973.
As a result of climate change, the endangered population of sea turtles has also been spotted in the Adriatic Sea for nesting. Enerit Saçdanaku, a scientific researcher for flora and fauna, passionately monitors their presence on the Albanian shores.
“Out of the seven species of sea turtles in the world, Albania has three species. The first one is the loggerhead turtle, or as it is also called, Caretta Caretta. The second one is the green or hawksbill turtle, known as Chelonia mydas. The third one is the leatherback turtle, which is the largest turtle in the world and is called Dermochelys coriacea,” says Saçdanaku.
The presence of sea turtles is also monitored by the administration of protected areas.
“We have been monitoring them for several years. In the recent years that we have monitored, 80% of the cases of sea turtles that appeared were loggerheads, and 20% were greens,” says Nexhip Hysolakaj, a specialist in protected areas.
Sea turtles face several risks mainly due to human activities, such as pollution from black waters, plastic waste, or coastal interventions.
“Near the first aid center, we had 12 to 15 sick or stranded turtles in a year. After studying the cases, we noticed that problems arose due to shell injuries, plastic ingestion, or unknown causes to us,” explains Hysolakaj.
“30-40% are stranded on the seashore, while the other cases have minor injuries. We keep them for 3-4 days, nurse them back to health, and release them into the sea,” he adds.
The Mediterranean monk seal is another rare species that has appeared in Albania as a result of climate change. It inhabits the area of Karaburun and Sazan, and experts consider it globally endangered.
“For several years, we have been monitoring this species with hidden cameras. The monitoring started with the inventory of caves found in Karaburun, which are suitable habitats for these species. So far, we have two individuals that have populated the Karaburun-Sazan Park, and we are taking measures to make the park a destination increasingly visited by this species,” researcher Laureta Sadikllari told BIRN.
Similar to sea turtles, Mediterranean monk seals are also threatened by human activities in their coastal habitat.
