Baby sea turtles rescued in Italian waters: See it here
Climate change and human activity have put all seven species of sea turtle at risk.
The Italian Coast Guard and a group of volunteers recently helped 26 sea turtles avoid worsening storm conditions near the Italian coast.
The team brought the newly-hatched turtles several kilometres out to sea before releasing them into calmer waters.
Some sea turtles can live up to 100 years in the wild, but worsening storms due to climate change are posing a challenge to all seven species.
Courtesy: Neil Osborne.
Beach erosion is destroying the habitats they depend on to lay their eggs, and warming sea temperatures can change the direction of currents -- putting them at risk of being introduced to new predators.
Stranding -- a phenomenon defined by NOAA as a sea turtle that is either found dead or alive but unable to survive due to an injury or illness, is also becoming more common, and increasingly linked to human-induced activities.
This has led to the establishment of several turtle rescue centres. Italy is home to more than 20 of them.
That didn't happen by chance: With a coastline of about 7,600 km on the Adriatic, Ionian, and Tyrrhenian seas, Italy is a hotspot for turtles of all species that roam the Mediterranean sea.
Thumbnail image/File photo courtesy: Getty Images.
