A Philenews reader filmed a sea turtle off Konnos beach in Protaras on Saturday while on a cruise in the area.
The sighting comes in the middle of nesting season for the island’s two endangered sea turtle species: the green turtle (Chelonia mydas) and the loggerhead (Caretta caretta), according to the Department of Fisheries and Marine Research.
The season runs from mid-May until the end of September. In the Mediterranean, green turtles breed almost exclusively in Cyprus and Turkey, while loggerheads also nest in Greece and in smaller numbers in other Mediterranean countries.
The Department has noted a general increase in nesting in recent years, particularly for the loggerhead. Each nest can contain 80 to 100 eggs, but only about one in every 1,000 hatchlings survives to adulthood.
The main nesting sites are the protected beaches at Lara-Toxeftra in Paphos and the Polis-Gialia area, part of the Natura 2000 network.