The first journey of a Caretta caretta from the beach where it hatches to the shoreline is the most important of its life. It relies on its instinct and DNA to find its way. Only if it succeeds the first time will it return after several decades to the same beach to lay its eggs and perpetuate its species. Turtles live for about 100 years and reach maturity after the second decade of their lives. For reproduction, they return to the beach where they were born to lay their eggs. Their return to the same beach highlights the importance of preserving, managing, and protecting ecosystems and nesting beaches.
The beach of Sitia is a nesting beach for the sea turtle Caretta caretta. At this location, the reproductive activity of sea turtles is photographically recorded. The photographic recording program is conducted by the "Volunteers for the Protection of the Sea Turtle in Sitia" in collaboration with ARCHELON to assess the nesting activity in Sitia.
The geosite description is a result of the deliverable of the research project Joint Innovative Activities for Outdoor Tourism-JoinOut. The project entitled "Partnership of Innovative Rural Tourism Actions" and distinctive title: "JoInOuT", is implemented within the framework of the Action "Cooperative Innovation Formations/SCC" - 2nd Call: Businesses" and is financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and by National Resources in the context of the Operational Program "Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation (EPANEK)" of the NSRF 2014-2020" (Project code: ΓΓ2CL-0359457).
