TIRANA, May 23- Gavrosh Zela said he has often seen dead sea turtles on the northern edge of the Rodon Cape cliff during his passionate journeys there. The environmental expert who coordinates a regional project for water pollution with Montenegro and Bosnia, blames plastic bags and bottles floating everywhere on the water for this phenomenon.
“Turtles eat them, confusing them with seaweed, favorite food from them. But it is impossible for the turtle’s digestive system to absorb plastic and chemical bags,” he said with concern in an interview with BIRN.
Specialists have matriculated since year 2000 over two thousand sea turtles in the Adriatic coastline for monitoring and study purposes. But such globally endangered species are threatened not only by fishermen’s nets and ship propellers, but also by plastic waste on the Albanian coast. Environmental specialists and scholars have said that the plastic wastes the rivers shed in the sea and the massive exploitation of the beaches have changed Adriatic’s water habitat and hindered the lives of water turtles. They consider the work of specialized marine organisms to be inadequate, as well as the lack of cooperation between them for the protection of species in the extinction. Prof. Dr. Idriz Haxhiu who is President of the Albanian Herpetofauna Association (AHA), which has the mission of rescuing endangered species, is also concerned by the lack of capacity and attention.
“We have trained the environmental guards of all the Regional Protective Zones, stretching along the Adriatic and Ionian coasts, but it was and it is necessary to increase the capacity in these institutions, as they, together with the researchers, should be in the first line for the protection of living things and nature,” Haxhiu said.
The danger from fishermen
Sea turtles are creatures that appeared about 110 million years ago and are known as dinosaurs contemporary. They are considered species at risk of extinction by the International Union for the Protection of Nature and are protected by the 1973 Dangerous Species Act. The first marine turtle in Albania was recorded about 40 years ago near Shengjin and had a weight of 200 kilograms. From that time, scientific data on water turtles and the need for their protection have been greatly enriched.
The most common turtle encountered on the Albanian coast is “caretta caretta.” But the Albanian Herpetofauna Association has documented on the beaches near Patok the presence of turtles belonging to two distinct species, namely “giant turtles” of about 400 kg, and “flying turtles” which surprised fishermen with it “elegant ballerina” movements. Researchers of the Albanian Herpetofauna Association are still enthusiastic about the discovery from several years ago that aquatic turtles folenize even on the Albanian coast. But this discovery costed the life to one of them.
“15 years ago, near Orikum in Vlora, the owner of a cafeteria hit a sea turtle, which had appeared several times in the shore. Only when 80-90 eggs were found in the body, and we realized why he was looking for the sand of the shore,” recalls Professor Haxhiu.
Despite raising awareness for endangered species, sea turtles face threats to the Albanian coast again. Jet Doda who is a fisherman in the area of ”‹”‹Ishmi that has attended lectures by Professor Idriz Haxhiu and his colleagues from the Albanian Herpetofauna Association, said that water turtles often frighten fishermen for the damage they cause to the nets. Doda added that turtles breathe out of the water every 25 minutes and when they fall into the nets of the fishermen, they remain suffocated for several hours. However, the fishermen then do not throw them back into the water, but they revolt for the damages caused to the nets instead. He recalled that when the angry captain of a fishing trawler was cursing on the turtles that came “in his home,” an old fisherman answered wisely that “we scolded the turtles in their home, not the other way around.”
The need for education
Sea turtles live up to 200 years and have stunning recuperation abilities. When their limbs are severely damaged by metal jets or sharks, they can regenerate within a short time. Florian Dedja who is a fisherman from Durres, said that years ago two big turtles were entangled in his rods and nets just 500 meters from the coast of Durres. He recalled himself alarmed, as it seemed that the turtles were suffering. He remembered that one of them had on its leg the matriculate sticker writing “AL 0125,” while on the other side of the sticker it read “Prof. Haxhiu, Vlora, Albania.” Someone helped him to contact Haxhiu and a simple advice was enough to have the turtles running normal sea life.
Education and awareness of fishermen and citizens is one of the missions of the Association led by Haxhiu. They have already set up a turtle protection center near Patok beach, where specialists organize information meetings with students or pupils.
“We are trying to do this politically, not only with fishermen, but also with young people,” said Haxhiu.
The association run by him is working together with Italian counterparts to set up a rehabilitation center for damaged turtles. But while the center is considered a major step in protecting these species, experts call for the reduction of plastic waste as well as greater care for sea turtles. Haxhiu said that with an age of over 200 years the turtles have seen numerous changes in the underwater habitat. Pollution from plastic bags or bottles is a scrape more for their lives.
