Cyprus Marinelife Center 2024 Report English : simplebooklet.com

CMC Sea Turtle Research and Conservation 2024 1 Acknowledgments We want to thank the Cyprus Wildlife Research Institute (CWRI) especially Kemal Basat and Dominika Kňazovická for all the help and effort, Dr. Fuller, and all the volunteers that participated in the project (names listed in the appendix of the report) for all their work and dedication. We would like to thank Prof. Dr. Türkozan for his dedication of the past few years and we would also like to thank Faik and Hildayet, our brilliant chefs at Karpaz camp, Eran, for helping us every time we had technical problems, the markets in Dipkarpaz village, especially the Bayramoğlu market and Bekçi market and the Dipkarpaz petrol station. We also want to thank the general public for calling us when nests were hatching or when turtles washed up and appeared at the beach. Furthermore, Thanks to Levent Erkol for the Karpaz density maps. This report was conducted with the permission of CMC and all the authors.

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CMC Sea Turtle Research and Conservation 2024 3 Table of Contents 1. 77 Nest Monitoring - Karpaz Peninsula ....................................................................................... 8 Nest Monitoring – Karşıyaka Beach ........................................................................................ 9 2. 1111 3. 199 4. 2222 5. 2222 6. 2222 6.1. 2222 6.2. Error! Bookmark not defined.23 6.3. 2323 7. 2424 7.1. 2424 7.2. 2424 7.3. 2625 7.4. 266 7.5. 276 9. 298 9.1. 298 9.2. 309 9.3. 3430 9.4 Plastic Pollution ..........................................................................................................31 9.5 Updated Informational signs about nesting and hatching season across all monitored beaches .................................................................................................................................32 10. 363 11. 374

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CMC Sea Turtle Research and Conservation 2024 4 Table of contents – Figures Figure 1. Returning green turtle female at Ayfilon beach. June 2024 .Photographer: Maria Ines Lozano Kramer. 2 Figure 2. Cyprus MarineLife Center and Karşıyaka Turtle Watch logos. 7 Figure 3. Monitored nesting beaches across Karpaz Peninsula. In the north: Ronnas, Ayfilon, K8, K9 and K10. In the South: Beyza, Laden, Ikidere, Dolphin, Altınkum. 8 Figure 4. Karpaz volunteers working on Ayfilon beach. Photographer: Iona Shearer 9 Figure 5. Karşıyaka beach located on a map. 10 Figure 6. KTW volunteers working at Karşıyaka beach. 10 Figure 7. Distribution of both green sea turtle and loggerhead sea turtle nests on Karpaz beaches, 2024. 12 Figure 8. Distribution of both green sea turtle and loggerhead sea turtle nests at Karşıyaka beach, 2024. 13 Figure 9. Histogram of ten-day bins of the nest frequency at Karpaz Peninsula (A) and Karşıyaka beach (B) for 2022, 2023 and 2024. 15Error! Bookmark not defined. Figure 10. Drone view of green turtles gathered in a small 200m stretch of Ronnas Beach waiting for sunset in order to attempt nesting. 16 Figure 11. Mating turtles spotted at Ronnas beach while snorkelling, 2023. Photographer: Godfrey Rivera. 16 Figure 12. Box plots with the temperature (ºC) for the nests with data loggers in Ayfilon (A), Ronnas (R), Dolphin (D) and Beyza (B) 17 Figure 13. Box plot between north and south beaches in Karpaz. R-15 temperature data was removed. 18 Figure 14. Image of K8 beach with sunbeds and water sports equipment adorning the beach. Photographer: Ionas Shearer. 20 Figure 15. Rotten nest due to late season heavy rains. Photographer: Jenny Kurth. 21 Figure 16. Nest relocation at Ayfilon beach. Photographer: Helena Vela Garcia. 21 Figure 17. Helena tissue sampling a green turtle during the night shifts. Photographer: Alexandros Leontiades. 23Error! Bookmark not defined. Figure 18. Volunteers from Karpaz, CWRI and CMCK at the Karşıyaka event. Karşıyaka beach, 2024. 24 Figure 19. Volunteers conducting a beach clean on Ronnas beach. Photographer: Iona Shearer. 25 Figure 20. One of the rehabilitated male Green Turtles released in Karşıyaka beach, 2024. 25 Figure 21. CMC Team Leaders giving a presentation about Sea Turtle Conservation and the project and research CMC was conducting. 26 Figure 22. Mural painted by team leaders and volunteers during the 2023 season. 27 Figure 23. Volunteers from 2022 season. 27 Figure 24. Volunteers updating the volunteer name chain, 2023. 27 Figure 25. Volunteers helping to fix wooden flooring. Photographer: Iona Shearer. 28

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CMC Sea Turtle Research and Conservation 2024 5 Figure 26. Volunteers helping to fix roof damage from a storm. Photographer: Iona Shearer. 28 Figure 27. Boats very close to the shore at K8 beach. Photographer: Caitlin Carmichael. 29 Figure 28. Discarded camping equipment and litter left on Golden beach. Photographer: Iona Shearer. 30 Figure 29. Hatchling entangled with plastic on Ayflion beach, 2024. Photographer: Iona Shearer. 31 Figure 30. Fishing lines that a team leader removed from a turtle's flipper, 2023. Photographer: Iona Shearer. 31 Figure 31. Chelonia mydas hatchling going to the sea and plastic pollution. Ronnas beach, 2023. Photographer: Iona Shearer Error! Bookmark not defined.2 Figure 32. One of our team leaders relocating a nest in Ayfilon beach as the turtle laid the eggs very close to the sun beds. Photographer: Helena Vela Garcia 32 Figure 33. New nesting information sign located at Ronnas beach, 2023. 33 Figure 34. Team leaders and project coordinator of 2023 season. From left to right, Iona Shearer, Ömer Keleş, Oğuz Türkozan, Godfrey Riviera, Helena Vela Garcia and Yönter Meray. 35

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CMC Sea Turtle Research and Conservation 2024 7 1. Background In 2021, Cyprus Marine Life Centre (CMC), in collaboration with the Cyprus Wildlife Research Institute (CWRI, took over the monitoring of nesting beaches across North and South Karpaz from SPOT. CMC continued to work in collaboration with Cyprus Marinelife Center Karşıyaka (CMCK) (formerly known as Karşıyaka Turtle Watch) throughout this period. Additionally, the project was undertaken by a group of 6 Cypriot volunteers in 2021 and was limited to only Cypriot volunteers due to the restrictions set during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was then in 2022 when the first year of international volunteers were able to work on the project for CMC. In total, 35 volunteers from Europe and further afield were able to aid the project, learning how to collect and input specific information for the project. 2022 also saw the start of CMC’s collaboration with Prof. Dr. Oğuz Türkozan as the project coordinator for the Sea Turtle Research and Conservation Project. During this time, the addition of research team leaders was implemented to help aid Dr. Türkozan with the project to help lead the teams of volunteers during daily shifts. We saw the number of international volunteers increase last year to a total of 99 from all over the world, with an additional 5 team leaders, and out of the total 104, 13 were returning volunteers from 2022. Early this year Dr.Türkozan took on one of his team leaders, MSc. Iona Shearer, as a project assistant. She later took over the role of project coordinator upon Dr.Türkozan’s departure from the project in June. This season saw a further increase in our number of international volunteers, with a total of 121 volunteers from 30 different countries all over the world, with an additional 10 team leaders. Of the 131 intotal, 19 were returning volunteers from previous seasons (including 2022 and 2023). This number is expected to continue steadily growing as the project continues to develop, and outreach in advertisement via media, academic networks, and by word of mouth from past volunteers keeps growing. Figure 2. Cyprus MarineLife Center and Karşıyaka Turtle Watch logos Figure . Cyprus

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CMC Sea Turtle Research and Conservation 2024 8 Nest Monitoring - Karpaz Peninsula Detailed monitoring was conducted throughout the nesting and hatching period from 10 May to 18 October 2024. Almost all the beaches were monitored on foot daily except Altınkum where we monitored once a week. During the fieldwork, we counted all the emergences: nesting and non-nesting, reduced nest protection, minimal nest relocations, and analysis of the subsequent fate of each identified nest across 10 nesting beaches (Figure. 3) carried out by Cyprus Marine Life Centre. This year, we carried out a week of light night-time individual-based monitoring of Dolphin Beach to collect data for another project. The night shifts were conducted over 7 days in mid-July with the additional day 23 June. Figure 3. Monitored nesting beaches across Karpaz Peninsula. In the north: Ronnas, Ayfilon, K8, K9 and K10. In the South: Beyza, Laden, Ikidere, Dolphin, Altınkum.

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CMC Sea Turtle Research and Conservation 2024 11 2. Results of the project The first attempt of the turtles started on the 11th of May on Ronnas Beach by a green turtle, and the first nest was also recorded on the 11th of May, on Ayfilon Beach by a loggerhead turtle. The last non-nesting emergence was on the 19th of August on Ayfilon Beach, while the last nest of the season was on the 14th of August on Altınkum Beach. So, the nesting period lasted 95 days. The last reported hatching was on the 29th of September, excluding some late August nests. A total of 7156 emergences were recorded, with 1834 (25.63%) resulting in nests. Out of 1834 nests, 1726 (94.1%) were Green Turtles, and 20 (1.1%) were Loggerhead Turtle nests and 88 (4.7%) were species unknown. The highest nesting and non-nesting turtle activity was on the northern beaches, with Ronnas Beach having the highest action. However, the nesting success was the highest in Ayfilon Beach (Table 1). Of the identified 1726 green turtle nests 203 completely (11.8%) and 210 (12.2%) partially depredated and minimum 14,212 eggs were destroyed. Excluding the depredated eggs, the hatching success of the green turtle nests was 71.8%. The distances of the nests from the sea were mainly concentrated at 11-20 m (38.6%) (Figure 6). Some nests were laid very close to the sea and as a consequence 5.3% of the laid nests this season were flooded. 11 loggerhead nests (55.0%) were partially or completely predated and minimum 184 eggs were destroyed by foxes. A total of 7 nests were excavated and 636 eggs were counted in these nests. Of these 425 (66.8%) were empty eggs shells, 128 (20.1%) unhatched, 1 (0.16%) early, 7 (1.1%) mid and 55 (8.6%) late-stage embryos were counted. The mean clutch size was 91.71 (range=57-122) eggs. Only 1 nest was flooded and the remaining 3 nests were lost. The mean distance of the nests from the sea line was 18.41±9.64 m (range=1-92 m). The nests were concentrated mainly at 11-15 m distance (Figure 7).

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CMC Sea Turtle Research and Conservation 2024 13 For Karşıyaka Beach, a total of 309 emergences were reported, with 77 (24.9%) resulting in nests. There were 254 emergences from loggerhead sea turtles, 59 of those emergences resulting in nests. In contrast with last year, there were 43 emergences from green sea turtles, with 18 resulting in nests. The first nest was recorded on 19th May, while the last one was on the 26th of July. The nesting period lasted 68 days. The first hatchling emergence was on the 17th of July, while the last hatching was reported on the 15th of September. So, the hatching period was 60 days. The temporal distribution of nests and non-nesting emergences are presented in a 10 10-day window in Figure 8. For the North beaches at Karpaz Peninsula, Ronnas had the greatest number of nests with 565 nests with a nesting success rate of 18.37%. Ayfilon had 413 nests (second highest nest number) with a nesting success rate of 35.45% (highest nesting success rate of all the beaches). K8 had 3 nests with a nesting success of 27.27%, K9 had 84 nests with a nesting success of 27.72%, and K10 had 42 nests with a nesting success of 17.36%. For the South beaches, Altınkum had 187 nests with a 34.40% nesting success rate. Beyza had 40 nests with a 23.12% nesting success rate. Laden had 177 nests with a 29.55% nesting success Figure 8. Distribution of both green sea turtle and loggerhead sea turtle nests at Karşıyaka beach, 2024.

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CMC Sea Turtle Research and Conservation 2024 14 rate. Dolphin had 128 nests with a 33.95% nesting success rate, and Ikidere had 195 nests with a 30.18% nesting success rate. On the other hand, the total nest number in Karşıyaka region (5 beaches) this season was 77. Unlike last year (all Loggerhead turtle nests), 18 of the nests were Green turtle nests. Conversely, this year, 77 nests were laid on Karşıyaka Beach and 18 of them were Green turtle nests. The 2022 season had a total of 1703 nests located across the Karpaz Peninsula and 39 located in Karşıyaka Beach. Across Karpaz, only 32 of the 1703 nests were identified as Loggerhead nests, 5 nests were undefined as to which species had created them, and the rest were identified as Green Turtle nests. The 2023 season had a total of 28 nests located across the Karpaz Peninsula identified as Loggerhead nests, 12 were undefined as to which species had created them, and the rest were identified as Green turtle nests. While this season saw a total of 20 Loggerhead nests, 88 were unidentified and the rest were identified as Green turtle nests. Table 1. Non - nesting, nest numbers and nesting success in percentage of all the beaches patrolled at Karpaz Peninsula 2024. Beach name Non – nesting attempts Nests Nesting success (%) South Altıkum 356 187 34.40 Beyza 133 40 23.12 Laden 442 177 29.55 Dolphin 249 128 33.95 Ikidere 451 195 30.18 North Ronnas 2511 565 18.37 Ayfilon 752 413 35.45 K8 8 3 27.27 K9 219 84 27.72 K10 200 42 17.36 Total 5321 1834 25.63 For the Karpaz Peninsula, the majority of nests were concentrated between the beginning and middle in 2022, while in the 2023 season the nests peak was between middle June and earlier July, but this season saw a nesting peak around the middle of June (Figure 11). As for Karşıyaka Beach, the densest nesting period in 2022 occurred in mid to late June, whereas last year, it had shifted to mid-July and now this season has seen a shift back to mid June and a stretch to mid July (Figure 9).

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CMC Sea Turtle Research and Conservation 2024 16 Ronnas beach is the most important nesting beach for green turtles, especially because it has the highest nest numbers, but also for mating. As during the mating period, earlier in the season, it is very easy to spot mating turtles very close to the shore (Figure 10 and Figure 11). Across the season, we measured the temperature of 29 nests using temperature data loggers. The mean temperature for the measured nests was 30.23 ºC with the following standard deviation (± 1.28). Temperature data loggers showed that there is not a higher temperature variability Figure 10. Drone view of green turtles gathered in a small 200m stretch of Ronnas Beach waiting for sunset in order to attempt nesting, 2023. Figure 11. Mating turtles spotted at Ronnas beach while snorkelling. Photographer: Godfrey Rivera.

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CMC Sea Turtle Research and Conservation 2024 19 3. Discussion This year the peak season started earlier than usual, as the first nest was laid the 11th of May, however, that was a slightly earlier nest as the next one was laid the 14th of May, while last year the first nest was laid the 15th and the year prior was the 24th. The peak season was achieved approximately in early July for 2022 season and end June for both 2023 and 2024 season. While for past years, such as 2020 and 2019 seasons (MTCP, 2019 and MTCP, 2020), the peak was approximately in late June. Across the time, the peak is concentrated between late June and earlier July. A total of 3389 emergences were observed in Karpaz for 2022 season, the number decreased for 2023 season, with a total of 2954 emergences and increased considerably for 2024 with a total of 7155 emergences. The nesting success in the north was higher in the 2022 season than in 2023 for the Ronnas, Ayfilon, and K8 beaches. While for the K’s 9 and 10, the nesting success last season (2023) was higher. For 2024 Ayfilon, K8 and K9 had the highest nesting success in the north. However, this season saw a higher nesting success in the south, especially for Altinkum, Dolphin and Ikidere. For the south beaches, Altinkum and Dolphin beaches had higher nesting success in the 2022 season in comparison with 2023, but Laden and Beyza had higher nesting success during 2023. Lastly, Ikidere had very similar nesting success results in both seasons. Overall, nesting success in Karpaz for the 2022, 2023 and 2024 seasons is 33.16%, 29.60%, 25.63%, showing a very small decrease in success, but a higher number of emergences and nests in total. Furthermore, if we acknowledge the data collected before CMC started working on the Karpaz peninsula, SPOT observed 1162 and 27 green turtle and loggerhead nests, respectively, in 2020 (MTCP, 2020), which reinforces the increasing nesting tendency. In addition, if we compare our data with other Mediterranean nesting areas, such as Akyatan, Ağyatan, Tuzla, and Yumurtalık Nature Reserve beaches along the eastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey, we observe that the nest success for green turtles is 37% with an annual mean of 366 nests (Yılmaz et al., 2015). On the other hand, the 2024 Karpaz nesting season has had nests in all of the patrolled beaches, including K8, which contrasts with the one emergence on this beach in 2023 season. K8 is a short beach that is less than 500 metres long, and is located in a very touristic area, as there’s a beach bar, an organic garden and a camping area next to it. A major part of the beach has sunbeds, kayaks left there overnight, and also there are some animals such as cats and dogs in the area, which might have scared the potential nesting females and could continue to show lower emergences for this beach. Nonetheless, there were 3 nests laid on K8 during the 2024 season.

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CMC Sea Turtle Research and Conservation 2024 20 Figure 14. Image of K8 beach with sunbeds and water sports equipment adorning the beach. Photographer: Iona Shearer Predation, specifically fox predation, is a key factor in our study area. However, if we compare the predation rate for the 2024 season with past seasons, we observed an increase. This year we have seen a predation rate of 26.98%, but last year only 10.6% of the nests were predated, while the season before (2022) had 15.15% predated. Previous SPOT data show 60% of predation prior to 2020 (MTCP, 2020). In 2022, nests were protected by cages, but following the success of 2023, in the use of a passive conservation methodology, no nest protection was applied during the fieldwork again for this year. However, we have seen a record number of nests this year and we are not surprised by the increase in predation rate mirroring this. Hatchling success in Karpaz peninsula for the 2023 slightly decreased in comparison to last seasons but is higher than 50% and for this season we saw a continuation with a 61.83% hatching success rate. If we compare our data with other Mediterranean nesting areas, such as Akyatan, Ağyatan, Tuzla, and Yumurtalık Nature Reserve beaches along the eastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey, we observe that the hatchling success is lower in Karpaz, as 62.6% and 75% for 2023 and 2020 season, respectively, in Karpaz, with 77% on the eastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey (Yılmaz et al., 2015). Another factor that we want to discuss is the nest loss due to shoreline proximity. Some sea turtle nests were laid very close to the sea and thus face an elevated risk of loss due to various factors. The proximity to the shoreline exposes these nests to natural threats such as wave action and

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CMC Sea Turtle Research and Conservation 2024 21 high tides. Strong waves can wash over the nests, inundating them with water and potentially causing the eggs to become waterlogged or washed away, reducing the hatching success rate. To mitigate these risks, conservation efforts often involve nest relocation. However, our goal is implementing the principles of conservation biology, meaning that evolutionary processes should continue within dynamic ecological complexity and minimise human interaction. That's why during last season and this season, we chose to only relocate nests for a study conducted by a small number of our volunteers. Figure 15. Rotten nest due to late season heavy rains. Photographer: Jenny Kurth. Figure 16. Nest relocation at Ayfilon beach. Photographer: Helena Vela Garcia. Heavy rain towards the end of the nesting season can have a profound impact on the hatching success. The sudden drop in temperature can extend the incubation period for the eggs, causing the hatchlings to develop more slowly or cease their development entirely. This prolonged incubation increases the vulnerability of the nests to predation, diseases, and other environmental hazards, decreasing hatching success. Furthermore, nest temperature plays a pivotal role in determining the gender of the hatchlings, with lower temperatures typically yielding more male turtles and higher temperatures producing more females. However, lower temperatures and water create an inhospitable environment for the embryos, potentially stopping the development and resulting in a lower hatching success rate. Overall, nest inundation is a serious concern, as it can lead to the eggs suffocating or drowning. The waterlogged nests create an inhospitable environment for the embryos, potentially resulting in a lower hatching success rate.

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CMC Sea Turtle Research and Conservation 2024 22 4. Conclusions The 2024 nesting season was overall successful. We helped to conduct multiple different scientific research projects under the guidance of the project coordinator with the support of our team leaders and volunteers. Furthermore, we continued a small number of night shifts, which allowed us more knowledge of the green turtle nesting process and to get additional tissue samples for genetic studies. We continued gathering nest temperature data using tiny tag temperature data loggers. We aim to continue our comparison with the past season's temperature data and study possible anomalies or changes in nest temperature. On the other hand, Cyprus Marinelife Center Karşıyaka will join us (Cyprus Marine Life Center) to continue operating closely together and improve the working process. Additionally, the new Marine Life Center has been built in Karşıyaka with the aim to ensure a better environment for the wild sea animals that might need medical attention in the future. Furthermore, the new and better installations have taken place for the volunteers in the Karpaz Peninsula camp located in front of Ronnas beach and have improved the quality of life for the volunteers working with us. 5. Deceased Turtle Strands We were alerted to three accounts of deceased sea turtles washed up onto our monitored nesting beaches between May and September 2024. Of these three, only one was recent enough for us to be able to deduct the reason for death as ghost fishing or bycatch. 6. Other Research 6.1. Multi-Paternity and Biological Tagging project conducted by Helena Vela Garcia (continuation from 2023). Last season our Team leader Helena conducted a project to infer the number of males and females of Chelonia mydas reproducing on Ronnas and Ayfilon beaches, two of the beaches that we patrol, located on the north coast of the Karpaz Peninsula. Furthermore, the project aims to study the multiple paternity of green turtle nests in our study area. This season she has returned to conduct further research into the south beaches and collected samples from Dolphin beach. Ultimately, the samples will be used for the green turtle genome project.

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CMC Sea Turtle Research and Conservation 2024 23 6.2. Impact of human activities and evaluation of conservation strategies project conducted by Rya Aust Rya’s research project aims to identify the impacts of human activities on female sea turtles nesting behaviour, how it may affect their clutch sizes laid and an evaluation of the effectiveness of current conservation strategies. This project being conducted will result in a report that will go towards her Bachelor’s of Science Degree at Swansea University. 6.3. Impact of Environmental Variables and Hatchling Success Rates project conducted by Chloe May Giljets-Vincent Chloe’s research project objectives are to identify what environmental hazards the green sea turtle hatchlings might face and discover how much of an impact temperature can have on the hatchlings through use of temperature logging data compared to excavation data. This project being conducted will result in a report that will go towards her Bachelor’s of Science Degree at Swansea University. Figure 17. Helena tissue sampling a green turtle during the night shifts in 2023. Photographer: Alexandros Leontiades.

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CMC Sea Turtle Research and Conservation 2024 24 7. Raising Awareness and Advocacy 7.1. Caretta caretta festival at Karşıyaka with a public hatchling release To celebrate the end of the season our volunteers joined the CMCK for an event at Karşıyaka (Figure 18), along with the Lions association. There we all enjoyed each other's company and exchanged our ideas to improve the project and the overall goal, the sea turtle conservation. Furthermore, some hatchlings were released in a public release for everyone and awards of recognition for our conservation efforts were given. Figure 18. Volunteers from Karpaz, CWRI and CMCK at the Karşıyaka event. Karşıyaka beach, 2024. 7.2. Beach Clean Events CMC organised a large beach clean for world clean up day in collaboration with CWRI who also cleaned up the natural environment in Taskent (Figure 19). Throughout the season, the volunteers for the Karpaz project organised their own beach cleans on numerous occasions on Ronnas beach, they also picked up litter of their own volition during the daily morning shifts.

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CMC Sea Turtle Research and Conservation 2024 26 7.3. Public Rehabilitated Sea Turtle Releases During September, two rehabilitated turtles were released back to the wild. One Loggerhead Turtle named Freya who came from Tatlisu and was released by two CWRI team leaders and one Green turtle named Mavi, who came from Lapta and was released by two Karpaz team leaders were both released at Karşıyaka beach. Figure 20. One of the rehabilitated male Green Turtles released in Karşıyaka beach, 2024. 7.4. CMC hosting School visitors During June, CMC hosted school visitors where the Team Leaders gave a presentation about the project and research CMC was conducting in the Karpaz Peninsula as well as general information about Sea Turtle biology and threats in the Mediterranean. Due to the heatwave they were unable to recreate and conduct their nest excavation activity for the children from the year prior.

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CMC Sea Turtle Research and Conservation 2024 27 8. Camp Life We are proud of the large number of volunteers that stayed with us during this season and over past seasons. We have created a great community and enjoyed learning about different cultures, teaching them about the sea turtle population of Cyprus and making new friends. Besides working hard on the field, we also had time to do some activities and be all together eating dinner cooked by our amazing chefs, snorkelling or playing games at the beach and also working hard to make sure that camp remains a place that volunteers can feel at home. Last season saw our volunteers and team leaders painting a mural on the wall and this year saw them helping to fix up camp and the continuation of our volunteer name chain, made from recycled materials found off of the beach at the start of last season and across this season, to not forget about all the amazing people from different places that had visited us. Figure 21.CMC Team Leaders giving a presentation about Sea Turtle Conservation and the project and research CMC was conducting.

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CMC Sea Turtle Research and Conservation 2024 29 Figure 25. Volunteers helping to fix wooden flooring. Photographer: Iona Shearer Figure 26. Volunteers helping to fix roof damage from a storm. Photographer: Iona Shearer 9. Recommendations and Concerns Throughout the season, we have closely observed the challenges and dangers that sea turtles face during the mating, nesting, and hatchling seasons. In this chapter, we outline both our concerns and recommendations to enhance their protection and well-being. Besides sharing the results obtained this season, the aim of the report is helping to build collective knowledge and a safer future for sea turtles. 9.1. Boats and Jet skis Across the season we have observed boats and also Jet skis coming close to the shore, especially in Ronnas beach, which is the beach with most nests in Karpaz Peninsula. This presents a danger to the mating process, nesting females and even hatchlings going to the sea, as boats near the shore in sea turtle nesting beaches pose a threat due to collision and also noise pollution. The noise caused due to boat activities can disorient nesting females and deter them from coming ashore, decreasing the nest numbers in that area. Furthermore, collision with boats can injure or

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CMC Sea Turtle Research and Conservation 2024 30 kill sea turtles, as boat propellers can cause immense harm to the habitat and other animals (Fuentes et al., 2016). Boats have also been seen frequently docked this season off of Ronnas and Altinkum beach. Figure 27. Boats very close to the shore at K8 beach. Photographer: Caitlin Carmichael 9.2. Camping activities Camping at the beach is a forbidden activity at the nesting beaches. However, during the season we have witnessed people camping with tents at the beach, specially at Ayfilon or Altinkum beaches, the most touristic areas that we have been patrolling. This is a dangerous activity as noise and light can make nesting females return to the sea without laying eggs. Furthermore,

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CMC Sea Turtle Research and Conservation 2024 31 illegal camping also affects the hatching season, as hatchlings reach the sea following the sea noise and also the light (Asp, 2017), and this might affect hatching behaviour and survival rates. Additionally, touristic areas tend to have sun beds or beach bars near to the shore which might also affect nesting success. For example, during the 2023 and 2024 season we have relocated nests in Ayfilon beach as they were laid very close to the sun beds which affected the touristic activity and we always have a low number of emergences and nest in K8 beach, where there is an Organic Gardens camping and beach bar. This year additionally we have seen the placement of beach chairs on K10 beach. Figure 29. Discarded camping equipment and litter left on Golden beach. Photographer: Iona Shearer 9.3. Illegal tourist turtle tours This season has been the worst yet for finding tourists walking our patrolled beaches at night claiming that their hotels have told them they can partake in turtle tours. Ayfilon has been the most prevalent in our finding of tourists late at night and we have spent lots of time in collaboration with the local Karpaz police to deter these people off of the beach. 9.4. Plastic pollution More crowded beaches usually mean more pollution, even if some of the beaches that we patrol such as Ayfilon have some kind of cleaning measures, is easy to spot debris on the beach, However, this pollution not always come from the island, as it is well-known that currents tend to

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CMC Sea Turtle Research and Conservation 2024 34 Figure 31. Chelonia mydas hatchling going to the sea and plastic pollution. Ronnas beach, 2023. Photographer: Iona Shearer Figure 32. One of our team leaders relocating a nest in Ayfilon beach as the turtle laid the eggs very close to the sun beds. Photographer: Helena Vela Garcia 9.5. Updated Informational signs about nesting and hatching season across all monitored beaches Informing the tourists that nesting beaches are protected and entrance is forbidden from 20.00 to 08.00 hours is a must to ensure correct communication and the project success. Last season the

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CMC Sea Turtle Research and Conservation 2024 36 10. References ● Asp, E. S. (2017). The Effect of Artificial Light Pollution on Orientation of Hatchling Loggerhead Sea Turtles (Caretta caretta) in the Grand Strand Region, South Carolina (Doctoral dissertation, Coastal Carolina University). ● Ozkan, M., Beton, D., Çiçek B., Fuller, W., Godley, B., Snape, R., Broderick A. (2020). Marine Turtle Conservation Project Northern Cyprus 2020 report. ● Snape, R., Çiçek B., Davey, S., Fuller, W., Godley, B., Broderick A. (2019). Marine Turtle Conservation Project Northern Cyprus 2019 report. ● Yılmaz, C., Oruç, A., & Türkozan, O. (2015). Marine turtles (Chelonia mydas and Caretta caretta) nesting along the eastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey: Results from six years of surveying. The Herpetological Journal, 25(4), 197-204.

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CMC Sea Turtle Research and Conservation 2024 37 11. Appendix Project Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Oğuz Türkozan (January-June); MSc. Iona Sherer (June-December) Team Leaders Caitlin Carmichael Ömer Keleş Helena Vela Garcia Yönter Meray Louise Ormansay-Gy Mustafa Can Arslantay Figure 34. Team leaders and project coordinator of 2023 season. From left to right, Iona Shearer, Ömer Keleş, Oğuz Türkozan, Godfrey Riviera, Helena Vela Garcia and Yönter Meray. Volunteers names 2024 Table 2. All Karpaz volunteers for the 2024 season. First Name/s Surname Country Carmen Aranda Fernandez Spain Rya Aust UK

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CMC Sea Turtle Research and Conservation 2024 38 Anna Benori Italy Auriane Beregener France Rosanne Beukeboo Netherlands Viktoriia Biriukov Russia Merve Buba Cyprus Csongor Bukor Hungary Sara Buss Germany Mhari Campbell UK Mustafa Can Arslantay Türkiye Caitlin Carmichael UK Freya Carr UK Asma Chaabane Tunisia Ana-Maria Ciobanu Romania Maria Luciana Ciorap Romania Dex Cook UK Bethan Eleanor Croft UK Ivana Davidov Serbia Nell Dawes UK Cedric De Groot Netherlands Nick de With Netherlands Mathilde Desombre France Eric Ruben dos Santos USA Mila Dragin Serbia Miriam Dorothea Dresek Germany Kora Fernadez Duran Spain Erin Flatterly UK Jana Freudenberg Germany Elodie Frezier USA Raquel Gallego Torti Spain Julie Gavelle France Maelys Gavelle France Chloe May Giltjes-Vincent UK Paulina Głazik Poland

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CMC Sea Turtle Research and Conservation 2024 39 Cesar Gonzalez Sanchez Spain AnnMarie Gooch USA Jessica Graef Germany Susanne Graef Germany Finja Greiving Germany Krisztina Győrössy Hungary Barbora Hanzíková Czechia Terrell Hendy-Thompson UK Keith William Hodgson UK Mariia Hurinovich Ukraine Catrin Jones-Barbour UK Lubov Kabo Belarus Antonia Kagermeier Germany Sezgin Karaman Türkiye Ömer Keleş Cyprus Serife Keleş Cyprus Simre Keleş Cyprus Elliott Key UK Aadarsh Khimasia UK Doga Kirac Türkiye Aleksandra Krajnik Poland Tereza Křesalová Czechia Magdalena Kurek Poland Jenny Kurth Germany Kamila Legat Poland Hanna Lelesz Hungary Daniela Lopes Ramos UK Maria Ines Lozano Kramer Spain Noemi Ludvik Slovenia Gaelle Mairlot Belguim Sophie Malkin UK Barbara Maria Spain Jessye Mc Namee Ireland

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CMC Sea Turtle Research and Conservation 2024 40 Arjen Meester Netherlands Yonter Meray Cyprus Isidora Milivojevic Serbia Charalambia Miltiadous Cyprus Karl Minkevica Latvia Monika Molnar Hungary Benjamin Muller South Africa Cindy Naujokaitė Lithuania Rasa Naujokiene Lithuania Sara Nestorović Serbia James Harry Nolan UK Louise Ormansay-Gy France Gabriela Orzel Ireland Katarina Pandza Slovenia Ivana Pantić Serbia Rianne Pelgrims Belgium Belén Pérez Aliacar Spain Anja Perić Serbia Lena Petera Germany Maja Petricic Croatia Emily Piper Cyprus Danilo Popović Serbia Agnieszka Prazmowska Poland Charlotte Price UK Luisa Quiros Spain Jelena Radojević Serbia Natalie Ratajova Czechia Nathan Rety France Azahara Romero Usuga Spain Emīlija Rosicka Latvia Emilia Rosolak Poland Ellie Rulhulssin Netherlands Arij Sadraoui Tunisia

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CMC Sea Turtle Research and Conservation 2024 41 Kristian Sandbakken Norway Iona Shearer UK Tabby Skivington UK Alexandra Stanciu Romania Aleksandra Stjepanovic Serbia Kriste Stravinskaitė Lithuania Abbi Strawbridge UK Jennifer Sudworth UK Masa Sustar Slovenia Nehir Temur Cyprus Stefania Tingyela Hungary Daisy Tod UK Niamh Tucker UK Kerem Türkozan Türkiye Oğuz Türkozan Türkiye Serpil Türkozan Türkiye Beyza Türkozan Türkiye Alberto Ursua Martinez Spain Eda Uzundede Türkiye Valda Vasariete Latvia Helena Vela Garcia Spain Willow Vilnitis Latvia Rebecca Wallis Downham UK Meg Watt Australia Ruaric Winston UK Lottie Winterton UK Izabela Wisnoiwska Poland Veronika Yaneva Bulgaria Nevena Živković Serbia