Turtles released to eat jellyfish

The release of turtles into the sea off Cabo de Gata is part of an ongoing project organised by the Almeria local government Environmental Department. The turtles released are loggerhead turtles, know in Spanish as tortuga boba (daft turtles), and hatched on the same beach where they have been re-released. The turtle repopulation project has involved bringing eggs from the Cape Verde archipelago off the west coast of Africa and burying them on a beach in Cabo de Gata to which, in theory the adult turtles will return to lay their eggs in years to come. When the eggs hatched the baby turtles were taken to the marine species recovery centres in Malaga and Algeciras where they were cared for under controlled conditions. Now the animals, almost a year old, have been returned to their hatching place and released into the wild to fend for themselves.

The year old turtles now weigh between one and one and a half kilos but adults can reach weights of more than 100 kilos in as little as five years and it is estimated they live 30 to 62 years in the wild. As well as jellyfish loggerhead turtles will eat crabs, prawns, sea urchins, fish, fish eggs and even seaweed.

A similar experiment is being carried out in the Canary Islands.