Caretta carettas, which hatch on the shores of Italy and Albania in the Adriatic Sea and then lay eggs on the Mediterranean coasts of our country, are under significant threat due to reasons such as ship propellers, city lights, and human activities in the region. Despite protective measures being taken along the coasts of provinces like Antalya, Muğla, and Adana, these measures don’t seem enough to ensure the survival of the Caretta caretta species.
Even though they are under protection, it is impossible for them to remain unaffected by city lights on beaches close to urban areas. As a solution to this problem, artificial breeding islands could be established 150 to 200 meters away from the beaches where Caretta caretta turtles lay their eggs. At first, this might seem like an unrealistic plan, but it’s not as difficult as you might think. The method that would cause the least harm to nature and cost the least cost would be using portable islands. This is because non-portable islands would result in a greater spread of waste into the sea during construction, require more money, and if they have a more negative impact on the environment after being built, they can’t be relocated easily. Another objection might be the production cost of these portable islands. However, this could be answered by arguing that the money currently being spent on Caretta carettas is substantial, and the creation of an island that will be used for 2-3 months but will replace the beaches used for allt the year would be much more profitable for the tourism and fishing industries in the region. Furthermore, the construction of such new islands would contribute significantly to summer tourism in the beaches and would increase tourism on these islands for those who want to see these turtles.
Such a project might not seem very practical for now, but when the time comes and these animals are on the brink of extinction, the importance of projects like this will be recognized.