'Muñona' vuelve al mar

 'Muñona' returns to the sea

Well, like all turtles that recover, a subcutaneous chip has been inserted so that if it is ever treated again, the date and place where it was first recovered can be known.

The loggerhead sea turtle is the one that transits the Strait of Gibraltar the most and the one that CECAM recovers the most in collaboration with the Almadraba de Ceuta.

There is certain evidence that the Strait of Gibraltar is a passage for four species of sea turtles out of the seven that exist.

These are in order of size:

'Lute'. It is the largest sea turtle in the world, reaching a length of 2.3 meters and a weight of more than 600 kilograms. A male individual weighed 916 kilograms, although turtles of this size are rare.

In the last few days we have had news of the discovery of a dead 'lute' entangled in a net on a beach in Marbella. This represents a great loss for marine biodiversity and for the conservation of seas and oceans.

'Green'. It is large in size (smaller than the leatherback), with two distinct populations in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The common name of the species derives from the green color of its fat and not from the color of its shell

'Caretta caretta'. It is usually called 'boba' because of the ease with which fishermen caught it floating on the surface. This year it has nested on the Spanish Mediterranean coast 29 times, giving birth to a total of approximately 2,329 baby turtles, which thanks to the work of the associations and their volunteers have reached and will continue to reach the sea.

'Olivacea or Olive Ridley'. It is the smallest of the sea turtles. It measures up to 70 cm and weighs around 40 kilos. It feeds on a wide variety of marine invertebrates. Widely distributed in the world with the exception of the North Atlantic.

It is considered vulnerable just like the 'Caretta Road', the 'Leather' and the 'Green' Highway in danger of extinction by the IUCN.