Sea turtles need to be in the sea to survive. But as opposed to other marine animals such as fish, sea turtles breathe air and they can be out of water with no immediate damage. That means that they can be removed from the water for treatment and taken to the rescue center. But a number of hours out of water is not healthy for the turtle, because it then “feels” its heavy weight, which presses on its internal organs and muscles. In addition, when the turtle is out of water it is exposed to the weather – strong sunlight in summer and cold wind in winter. On the long term, a sea turtle will not survive out of water. The sea is its home – only there can it find food, maintain a constant temperature, migrate and mate.

Very true! When sea turtles hatch and crawl on the beach toward the water, a process called “imprinting” takes place. We don’t know the exact nature of the biological process, but when they reach sexual maturity, female sea turtles know how to return to that same beach to lay their eggs. However, during breeding season, in which a female lays from two to six clutches, one clutch might be laid on another beach, dozens or even hundreds of kilometers away from the rest. This phenomenon, the search for new nesting beaches, which has only been identified in recent years, apparently occurs as part of the natural process of dissemination of the species.

Before breeding season (on the coast of Israel, from February to May) sea turtles migrate from their feeding zones to their breeding zones, near the nesting beaches. The males and the females meet in the water and mate, with the male above the female, holding her in his front limbs. Fertilization occurs in the female’s body, into which the male inserts his sex organ, which is situated at the end of his tail. During breeding season female sea turtles will mate with a number of males, and a single clutch may contain eggs from different males.

Sea turtle breeding season apparently depends on water temperature and the lengthening of daylight. On the coastline of Israel, in the eastern Mediterranean, breeding takes place between February and June and eggs are laid from May to August. The eggs begin to hatch about two months after they are laid, that is, between July and September.

About two months after mating, the female sea turtle comes up onto the beach, digs a hollow in the sand and deposits her eggs in it. About two months later, the hatchlings emerge and crawl into the sea.

Female sea turtles mate every two to six years, depending on the species. During breeding season the female might lay from two to five clutches, each containing dozens of eggs. A female loggerhead usually lays 50–100 eggs in each nest, and a female green sea turtle lays 80–160 eggs.

Sea turtles need a sandy beach on which to lay their eggs, and the temperature of the nest must range between 22 and 30 degrees Centigrade. Green sea turtles and loggerheads living in the Mediterranean Sea nest mainly on the beaches of the eastern coast – Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Egypt and, of course, Israel.

As soon as the female lays its eggs, she returns to the sea and does not incubate them. In fact, a female sea turtle will never meet or raise her offspring. The eggs incubate in the hollowed-out nest deep in the sand, insulated from the hazards of weather and maintaining a fairly even temperature.

More than 200 sea turtles are beached each year onto Israel’s shores. expelled each year from the water onto Israel’s beaches. About a quarter of them emerge alive and are taken for treatment to the Israel Nature and Parks Authority’s rescue center.

Every year about 150 clutches of sea turtle eggs are laid on Israel’s beaches – most of them loggerheads, with some green sea turtles. The female mates every two to six years and in each breeding season lays up to five nests. It is estimated that about 150 loggerhead sea turtles and about 15 green sea turtles lay their eggs on Israel’s beaches. The population of egg-laying loggerheads in the Mediterranean Sea is estimated at 2,500 and of egg-laying green sea turtles – about 450.

In the 1930s, sea turtles were hunted en masse throughout the Mediterranean, including along our coastline. Today, intentional hunting is illegal in Israel, and is not a source of serious damage in our area. Most of the harm to sea turtles comes through unintentional fishing, collisions with boats or with infrastructure, and from garbage and shock waves from underground explosions.

Knowledge is power! Help raise awareness by spreading the sea turtle story. Share this website, the rescue center, photos and videos of sea turtles in Israel and abroad with your friends and on social media. Limit the amount of plastic waste you produce, and pick up garbage on the beach, even if it’s not yours. During breeding season, try as much as possible to stay off the beach at night, and try to keep to delimited areas like overnight campgrounds.

Report it to the Israel Nature and Parks Authority information line, *3639. Try to determine whether the turtle is alive or dead by its appearance, movements and breathing. If the turtle is not moving it might still be alive, but simply exhausted and weak. In that case, you can gently touch its eyelids to see if it blinks. Is the turtle holding its head up? It might be dead, and its head is up due to rigor mortis. If there is a chance the turtle is alive, report it to the information line and the rescue center team will get in touch with you soon after.

Report it immediately to the Israel Nature and Parks Authority information line, *3639. It is very important not to disturb a turtle while she is laying her eggs, because she will feel threatened and return to the sea without laying. And so watch from a distance and keep others from approaching her. Try to keep noise and artificial light to a minimum, and don’t photograph with a flash. Laying eggs is hard for the female, but she doesn’t need our help, so don’t go near her or touch her. Let her lay her eggs and return to the sea in peace. After the eggs are laid, don’t dig into the nest and don’t erase the traces in the sand. Document the location of the nest so a ranger can find it.

Report it immediately to the Israel Nature and Parks Authority information line, *3639. Let the hatchlings to crawl to the sea on their own and keep animals and vehicles away from them. If possible, count them, but don’t shine light on them or photograph them with a flash. If the hatchings are crawling toward artificial light instead of to the sea, pick them up gently and move them to a darker area of the beach. The hatchlings will crawl toward the sea even in complete darkness. Important! Hatchlings need to crawl in this way; don’t try to help them by moving them closer to the water.

Try to see whether it is alive or dead. Is it breathing? Is it moving? Blinking? Is it very bloated? Is its head held up but not moving?

A live turtle will not necessarily move if it is very exhausted, but it will blink and breathe every few minutes. A dead turtle might look alive if its head is held up and its mouth is open, because of rigor mortis. A dead turtle might also be very bloated, depending on how much time has passed since it died.

If the turtle is alive, don’t try to return it to the sea – it needs medical attention! Report it to the rescue center and keep watch over it until a ranger arrives. If the turtle is tangled in garbage, don’t try to untangle it! Sometimes removing such blockage can kill the turtle. We will remove it under controlled conditions at the rescue center.

If the turtle is dead, report it to the rescue center. Photograph it, and check whether it has a tag attached to its limbs. This tag might tell us about treatment it has received in the past.

A dead turtle. Photo: Michael Hauser

Between May and August you might meet egg-laying turtles, especially at night and early in the morning. If you encounter an egg-laying turtle, report it immediately to the Israel Nature and Parks Authority information line, *3639. It is very important not to disturb a turtle while she is laying her eggs, because she will feel threatened and return to the sea without laying. And so watch from a distance and keep others from going near her. Try to keep noise and artificial light to a minimum, and don’t photograph with a flash. Laying eggs is hard for the female, but she doesn’t need our help, so don’t go near her or touch her. Leave her to lay her eggs and return to the sea in peace. After the eggs are laid, don’t try to

dig into the nest and don’t erase the traces in the sand. Document the location of the nest so an Israel Nature and Parks Authority ranger can find it.

Egg-laying turtle. Photo: Yaniv Levi

Sea turtle eggs hatch from July to September. Most eggs hatch at nesting farms under supervision, but occasionally a nest is not found during nesting season, or it is found and left in place. If you encounter a natural hatching, report it immediately to the Israel Nature and Parks Authority information line, *3639. Allow the hatchlings to crawl to the sea on their own and keep animals and vehicles away from them. If possible, count them, but don’t shine light on them or photograph them with a flash. If the hatchings are crawling toward artificial light instead of to the sea, pick them up gently and move them to a darker area of the beach.  The hatchlings will crawl toward the sea.  Important! Hatchlings need to crawl in this way; don’t try to help them by moving them closer to the water.

Hatchlings. Photo: Omer Wallwater.