Day 2: A 'Turtle Conservation Day' at the Beach

Day 2 Photo Album Link

Hello everybody! It’s day 2 of the 2017 SMUS Greece Trip, and our first full day in Greece. A few of us started off the day with a gentle jog on the path along the side of the beach that is near our hotel. This was then followed by a delicious breakfast consisting of bread, feta cheese, eggs, and fruit salad. At 9:00 a.m. the group traveled to an environmental center where we witnessed a presentation on Loggerhead sea turtles. A key point that I took away from the presentation was that for every one thousand eggs, only one Loggerhead sea turtle hatchling will survive the trip from the egg-laying area to the deeper portion of the sea. This helped me to realize that it was important that we did what we could to help optimize the survival rate of these turtles by trying our best to eliminate unnatural sources of hatchling death such as illegal beach parties that emit bright lights which disrupt the path of hatchlings from the egg-laying area to the sea. A fun fact is that Kyparissia is now the largest breeding ground for the endangered Loggerhead sea turtles. After the presentation, we ate our lunches and went to Vounaki Beach where we were separated into teams of two to help clear garbage out of the beautiful beach. After a tiring time picking up garbage in the hot sun, we were rewarded by being given the opportunity to spend the rest of our afternoon swimming in the Ionian Sea. What a treat!

Divyesh

Swimming in the Ionian Sea was so much fun! Everyone was quite tired after cleaning up the beach, and it was also really hot out (about 30 degrees), so swimming was a great way to cool down. The water was a very nice temperature, cold enough to cool us down but still a lot warmer than at Victoria. We had to be quick when we were walking back to the cars though, since the sand was so hot that it nearly burnt our feet. Swimming was probably one of the highlights of my day so far, although I did really enjoy learning about loggerhead sea turtles in the presentation done by the Archelon Sea Turtle Preservation Group. I am really looking forward to sleeping on the beach tonight, as well as helping the Archelon group with their daily turtle nest surveys tomorrow morning. I think that we’ve had a really great second day in Greece, and I really hope that we get to see some turtles on the beach tonight or tomorrow!

Anna