Our Latest News- July 9, 2026

Skala Field Station 

It’s been a busy week welcoming a new group of volunteers. Nesting is well underway, and we have now relocated 7 nests on the beaches, including remote areas monitored by our volunteers, who have helped triangulate and take measurements. Alongside these relocations, the volunteers conducted a light pollution survey, which helped to find the brightest sources of light on the beaches. This will prove incredibly useful later in the season once our nests start hatching. 

Our volunteers have also snorkelled nearly 10km so far; they have been getting to grips with analysing all the data collected, helping to map huge areas on both Mounda and Skala areas.

We were also lucky enough to encounter a turtle nesting in the evening. Several of the volunteers got to experience this encounter and see firsthand all the effort that goes into these turtles making.

Svoronata Field Station 

The volunteers have had a really exciting 2 weeks, having lots of exciting and rare sightings of different species on shifts! During a light pollution data collection shift, a female loggerhead sea turtle was seen attempting to nest. The volunteers were able to sit back and observe this incredible experience with no disturbance to the sea turtle. The light pollution shifts are gathering extremely valuable data, as it means we can understand what impacts any artificial light at night may have on nesting sea turtle behaviour such as this sea turtle.

The volunteers were then also lucky enough to see another loggerhead turtle on their snorkel survey shift the following morning, as well as various seabream, wrasse and mullet fish species and Posidonia and Cymodocia sea grass. Furthermore, on a bird survey shift at Livadi, there was a rare sighting of a common shelduck! 

Nesting season is now underway with 6 nests now having been discovered on our remote beaches. The volunteers all worked really hard as a team to follow sea turtle tracks and identify the nests. 

The team have also collected 218 pieces of rubbish in just 3 beach clean shifts alone, making a real contribution to keeping our beaches clean and making it safer for nesting sea turtles and other species. They have also covered a record 121 quadrats on the sand dunes within two weeks, identifying 28 different species. Everyone is really excited to continue this hard work and help to make a real impact here in Kefalonia! 

Education Program

The excitement of nesting season continues and can be felt by volunteers, with our nest count now at 30! Several relocations have taken place, moving nests into safer areas away from sunbeds, steps and light pollution.

Volunteers have been fortunate enough to identify the Mediterranean Red Sea Star, several local fish species and even turtles swimming nearby on their snorkel surveys. They have also collected excellent data, helping us on our mission to assess seagrass coverage along Kefalonia’s beaches. We have even expanded our sea floor mapping to Gradakia beach.

Our volunteers at the Education Programme have thrown themselves into each shift with enthusiasm, learning about the importance of the conservation work they are doing. They have helped enormously in clearing up several beaches in the local area for the benefit of beachgoers and wildlife.

Over in Argostoli, volunteers have identified many different interactions between turtles on their harbour shifts and helped keep an eye out for signs of injury. This work has been supported by discussions throughout the week on the anthropogenic pressures in the harbour and their relation to turtle behaviour and injuries.

We look forward to the exciting season ahead!

Lixouri Field Station 

Lixouri Field Station has surpassed 50 nests, now with 65 overall in our survey areas! We have had our first four trans-beach relocations, moving nests away from a very clay-filled beach successfully! On the 2nd of July, Lixouri had our first rescue of the season! While walking around the harbour, a volunteer spotted a turtle with a fishing line trailing behind it. After finding the turtle on the drone and capturing it, the team was able to remove a hook and line that had become embedded in the turtle’s rear flipper.

Night surveys are still in full swing, with a total of 33 sightings, with 18 turtles being seen so far and a visit from one turtle, Sybil, at sunrise! We have had 9 out of our 18 turtles newly tagged, which is fantastic! Night survey has seen two turtles spotted before, one being Kong, who was seen at a tagging event in May 2025. The other being Yara, who was seen in a rescue by the Argostoli team two weeks ago. This was due to a 3-metre-long fishing line attached to her front left flipper, which was removed successfully!

We look forward to what the rest of the season brings us!

Argostoli Field Station 

Here in Argostoli, we have started our Public awareness shift. Our volunteers are ready to answer any questions and are more than happy to teach any locals or tourists about our amazing sea turtles here in Kefalonia.

Over the past couple of weeks, our nest count has risen to 65 nests with many more to come! Peak nesting season is well and truly upon us, and our volunteers are ready to go out on morning surveys to find those nests and ensure all of our previously known nests are ready to hatch in a couple of weeks!

Unfortunately, we have had 2 rescues over the past few weeks, one of which was a drone spot of one of our turtles that had a fishing net entanglement around its flippers and neck. Thanks to the quick response of our team, we were able to safely capture and remove the net, and it was safely returned back to sea. We are optimistic this turtle will make a speedy recovery! This is a pressing reminder that we need to do better at keeping our oceans clean to protect the wildlife not only here in Kefalonia but also globally.

Our second rescue was a previously unknown turtle, newly named Olenna, who was spotted by the Aquatic Scuba Diving Club in Agia Effimia with a line entanglement around the neck and front flippers. We kept this turtle overnight to do a closer observation, and thankfully the injuries sustained were not detrimental to Olenna’s health, and we were able to release Olenna the next day! We thank those who helped with this rescue and reporting this turtle.