08/06/2026
The Hidden Journey of Mediterranean Sea Turtles.
Every summer, more and more people have the chance to see Caretta caretta sea turtles on Mediterranean beaches, thanks to nest monitoring and protection activities. But the big question is: where do they go when they disappear back into the sea?
For the first time at a Mediterranean-wide scale, researchers from the Life Conceptu Maris project have reconstructed the “hidden” marine life of these turtles across three stages of growth, showing that they do not all live in the same places or in the same way. On the contrary, their habitat changes with age, from young individuals to adults, almost as if they follow different pathways through the ocean.
Young juveniles begin their journey in warm, productive, and dynamic waters, rich in food and ideal for growth during the most vulnerable stage of their lives. Adults, on the other hand, prefer deep, offshore waters that are more stable and predictable, far from the coast. Subadults are the true “teenagers of the sea”: flexible and constantly on the move, they travel across vast transition zones between coastal and open-ocean environments, following oceanic conditions as if searching for their place in the world.
In the Mediterranean, some regions—such as the Algerian, Tyrrhenian, and Adriatic Seas—serve as areas that are repeatedly used throughout different life stages, although their importance varies according to age and season.
These findings reveal a hidden oceanic world behind the turtles we see nesting on beaches: a long and dynamic journey that takes place far from the coast, across the entire Mediterranean basin. It is a world that we still know far too little about and that, for this very reason, we must protect with urgency and determination.
https://www.isprambiente.gov.it/en/news/from-the-nest-on-the-beach-to-the-open-sea-the-hidden-journey-of-mediterranean-sea-turtles
