Türkiye has a long legacy with turtles and especially sea turtles as the western and southern coast serve as popular nesting grounds for the thousands of green turtles and loggerheads aka 'caretta caretta turtles' that come ashore to lay eggs in nests under the sand, precisely where beach-goers tend to sunbath.

As mother turtles return to the sea once they have laid their eggs, which takes place at night, the little baby turtles, which usually hatch around 60 days later are left to their accord to make the brave journey from cracking out of their shells on the sandy beach to making their way to the sea; and only one in a thousand are believed to actually make it out alive.

Therefore, it is of utmost importance for beach-goers to be aware of this process, which will begin any day now in Türkiye so that they take precautions to ensure the safety of the mother and baby turtles – the species that is fast becoming endangered.

Typically, sea turtles arrive at Türkiye’s coast between the beaches of Iztuzu to Manavgat and everywhere in between. Miraculously, in order to nest their eggs, the mother turtles tend to return to the very site of their own hatching, which they are able to find through magnetic fields. However, unfortunately, because of global warming and development, some are now seeking colder or simply different areas to come ashore, resulting in sightings in Türkiye as north as Çanakkale.

Interestingly enough, the gender of turtles is determined by temperature, with colder nests producing males and warmer temperatures resulting in females and thus climate change is also negatively affecting the gender distribution of the species.

Some beaches are protected such as Iztuzu Beach, which even has a sea turtle museum, while another in Manavgat has an educational and conservation center, both of which exist very much in part to the diligent efforts of expats. Books and documentaries have been written about Captain June, whose conservation efforts led to the halt of development on Iztuzu Beach and the boats that traverse between the beach and the connecting Dalyan River.

In Manavgat, the story of a lone woman named Seher who has committed her life and all of her savings to save the turtles trying to nest on the beach in Antalya was picked up by the courageous world-traveling couple Marianne and Chris, who covered the whole process of establishing a center and raising funds on their YouTube channel "Tread the Globe."

Therefore, we all should follow the guidelines outlined by the expats for the well-being of the magnificent turtles – that by the way have a lifespan of between 50 to 100 years and can be over a meter in size – when we hit the beaches this summer.

Ways to protect sea turtles

First, turtles lay their eggs as shallow as 30 centimeters under the sand and then return to the sea, leaving their nests with over 100 eggs unprotected. This means that sticking umbrellas into the sand has a serious potential to harm a nest of sea turtle eggs. In Dalyan’s Iztuzu Beach, the area around 10 meters away from the shore is already demarcated so that people don't plunge their umbrellas and cause problems for the wildlife.

In other areas that don’t have such markings, it is best to set up your sunbathing space further away from the shore to not disrupt any of the nests.

Then, another problem is when baby turtles have to make the journey from their nests to the sea after they have hatched approximately two months from their shells, which means they have to walk over the sand. Therefore, building sand castles close to the water or digging holes could cause serious obstacles for the baby turtles to cover their journey to the sea. The lesson here is to build your sand castles and dig your holes at least 10 meters away from where the sea meets the shore.

Sea turtles come ashore at night to lay their eggs and thus lights from establishments and flashlights, as well as bonfires on the beach hinder their ability to lay eggs.

The next absolute no-no is the disposal of trash or plastic and especially plastic bags, which should be used for collecting said trash, if at all. Not only turtles can get caught up in the plastic which limits their mobility, but they can also accidentally eat it.

Turtles face a lot of threats to their survival from increasing temperatures, development, and pollution to fishing. They can easily get caught up in nets and if dragged down under the water for too long, they will perish as it limits their ability to breathe in the air they need to survive.

Last but not least, one of the biggest threats the tourism industry poses to sea turtles is vehicles being driven on the beach. Not only cars should never be driven near the shore, the rental companies of vehicles such as ATVs may disclose the dangers a joyride in the sand may pose to the proliferation of the already threatened turtle species.