A small loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) was found stranded today at Conceição beach in Faial Island, Azores. It was found by the Diretor of Okeanos/Uaç João Gonçalves while carrying out fieldwork. It was then taken to DOP facilities to perform a necropsy in order to investigate if the animal ingested litter.
Valentina is a small loggerhead turtle found stranded at Porto Pim Beach, island of Faial, on February 14th 2021. It was then brought to the Porto Pim Aquarium for recovery. At the moment it is very active and has already accepted food. As usual, small loggerhead sea turtles arrive to the Azores when winds and currents are favourable. If you sight a stranded sea turtle in the Azores please contact the Rede de Arrojamentos de Cetáceos dos Açores (RACA) phone number (+351) 912 233 518 or leave us a message in our facebook page “Sea turtle in the Azores”.
A COSTA fisheries observer prepares to embark on the first trip of 2021 onboard of a Portuguese surface longliner. A very strong component of the COSTA project is the observation of pelagic longline fisheries in the North Atlantic. Although this fishery targets swordfish, sea turtles also intect with the fishing gear. Due to the COVID19 pandemic, it has been difficult for observers to board ships. However, all efforts have been directed towards the continued observation of this fishery.
The last two recovering loggerhead turtles in the Porto Pim Aquarium were released last week. “Popeye” that was caught in October 2018 in the north of the Pico entangled in nylon cable and that eventually lost its right front fin. And “Barbataneta”, which was found stranded in the south of Faial in December 2018 by Mariana and her father, and showing from the beginning a serious problem of positive buoyancy. Both cases were delicate and fortunately the recovery turned out to be a success. We would like to thank everyone involved, especially Flying Sharks, who have been monitoring the recovery of these animals from the beginning and have done everything to make their rehabilitation a success.