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114 sea turtles back in the ocean

Stranded between October 2023 and May 2024 on the French Atlantic and Channel coasts, 114 loggerhead turtles and one green turtle have returned to the ocean after their stay at the CESTM at the Aquarium La Rochelle.

Never before seen!

While 114 turtles have already returned to the ocean, more than 150 individuals, weighing a few hundred grams on average, have joined the care centre in recent months.

According to Florence Dell’Amico, head of the CESTM, ‘the numerous storms, strong and close together, have pushed the young individuals towards the European coasts. Stunned and paralysed by the cold, they have run aground in far greater numbers than in previous years. The unfailing mobilisation of the correspondents of the Eastern Atlantic Marine Turtle Network enabled rapid and effective care to be provided’.

A long-term research project

As well as caring for turtles in distress, the CESTM carries out numerous scientific studies, in partnership with national and international research laboratories.
Its vocation is to improve overall knowledge of these protected marine species, such as their geographical origin, their age, the pollution they ingest...

Follow the voyage of 11 sea turtles

Oxygène, Océanide, Olympe, Oki, Octant, Osmose, Offshore, Ouragan, Olive, Ovni, Oléron (loggerhead sea turtles) and Oum (green sea turtle) are equipped with a satellite transmitter to track their movements.

This programme makes it possible to track the movements of turtles in near-real time and to identify the factors that influence their journeys offshore (temperature, surface currents, etc.). This data helps to improve overall knowledge of the behaviour of these endangered species. It is also given to schoolchildren taking part in the Argonimals section of the Argonautica educational project developed by CNES.

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