GALILEO

Turtle Point - Post-release Movements of Rehabilitated Turtles

A project of Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn.

click map for full-size version GALILEO (Loggerhead) is 1 km SE of the coast of Greece and 192 km from Athens

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Species: Loggerhead
Life Stage: Adult
Gender: Male
Release Date: 2011-10-01 15:15:00
Release Location: Parco Naturale Regionale
Last Location: 2012-04-22 16:00:29

Background

On 18th April 2011 a big male loggerhead turtle stranded near the mouth of the Morelli river in the Regional Park of Ostuni, Puglia, southeast Italy. The animal was found by the students of the secondary school “Galileo Galilei”, after which it was named, during a guided tour with the park rangers. The Coast Guards and the Dive unit of the Fire Department were immediately contacted to rescue the sick loggerhead and to transport it to the “Osservatorio Faunistico Provinciale” of Brindisi. Soon it was clear that the turtle required specialized treatment and therefore it was decided to transfer it at the Sea Turtle Rescue Centre of the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn of Naples. After 5 months Galileo was completely recovered and ready to return to the sea. Because of its large size and having spent only few months in captivity it was chosen for the satellite tracking program of the SZN to improve the knowledge on male loggerhead turtle movements in the Adriatic sea. Galileo was finally released back to the sea on 01 October 2011 from the mouth of the Morelli river in the Regional Park of Ostuni