The beaches of Crete – a Greek tragedy

Famed for its white-washed cottages set against herb-covered mountains, azure waters, and most importantly sandy beaches, few tourists to Crete realise that they may be contributing to the destruction of the very thing they’ve come to see. Little do they know that when they book their package to a beach resort, they may be supporting one of the major contributing factors to the demise of the Mediterranean Loggerhead sea turtle, which has its major nesting areas in the world on Greece’s beaches.

Having spent several years on Crete protecting its nesting sea turtles, Iris Coates returns to the island 5 years on to see if any of the local, national and international protection measures have had any success against the trail of deterioration that mass tourism has left across its shores…

Crete is host to one of the world’s most ancient mariners – Loggerhead sea turtles visit its shores every year from June to September to lay their eggs.

The mother returns to the sea and the hatchlings emerge from the warm sand about 55 days later. These same hatchlings (although only 1 in every 1000 will make it to adulthood) will one day, in about 20 years’ time, return to the same beach to lay their own eggs.

Sea turtles have been around for millions of years -since the dinosaur era- and have been visiting the beaches of Crete since ancient times. Unfortunately the last 20 to 30 years they have had to increasingly share their demand for sandy beaches with the majority of the almost 2 million visitors a year to the island, about 80% of which from package tourism.

Beach erosion due to uncontrolled over-development, and pollution due to lack of infrastructure to cope with these numbers of people (up to over 3 times Crete’s own population a year) along with sea turtles being killed by fishermen and caught in nets, has led to dwindling numbers of sea turtle nests on Crete.

Anything left on the beach at night (beach furniture, peddalos, umbrellas, etc) may obstruct a nesting turtle or trap a hatchling on its way to the sea, and lights both distract mother and disorientate hatchlings. Hatchlings are drawn towards the brightest light, which used to be the moon and stars reflecting in the sea but is now more likely to be hotels and road lights. Without intervention, these hatchlings will never find their way to the sea and will die of dehydration and exhaustion when the sun comes up in the morning.

Unfortunately this plight is shared with many sea turtle populations around the world, but the fact that this is happening in a country with various national, international and EU laws to protect the nesting beaches (i.e. parts of the beaches are part of the Natura 2000 network and sea turtles are on the IUCN red list) makes it the more alarming.

The recommended distance for constructing buildings on the beach is 50 metres from the vegetation line. Unfortunately many hotels are built much closer to the sea than this and vegetation is often removed when doing so. Hotels and tour operators are effectively creating the demand for beach resorts on Crete: many people probably wouldn’t mind if they had to walk 50 metres to get to the sea. This adds to the question why this development has been allowed progress for this many years.

The local organisation Archelon has been protecting the nesting turtles in the area since 1993, repeatedly pleading local government to act and for developers to adhere to the recommended guidelines for construction. Despite this, many more hotels have arisen on the nesting beach since I was last here, destroying dune systems, installing floodlights and placing more sun beds and umbrellas on the beach for what seems like an already saturated market. Surely no-one wants to see another hotel or resort cluttering the beach and eroding the coastline?

There are things that hotels and the tourism industry can do in order to sustain any sense of hope for tourism and turtles to co-exist; beaches can be kept cleared and dark at night: furniture can be removed from the beach and any lights switched off. However, this is of very low priority to hoteliers and international (including many British) tour companies and often ignored for convenience reasons. The majority of foreign tour companies utilising these premises do not seem to be, or feel, under any obligation to minimise their visitors’ impact, and laws that hotels are meant to abide by are often not adhered to.

Not surprisingly, after dusk, sun beds and umbrellas still clutter many a nesting beach on Crete if they are not cleared to make space for the occasional beach party. This dramatically reduces the space available for nesting in an area that is already under severe pressure. The sand may as well be concrete - any turtle that hatched from the same beach and returns 20 years later to lay her own eggs won’t know what has hit it and may end up aborting her eggs in the sea.

The scars left by tourism on its northern coasts will not easily be erased, but the beaches would possibly regenerate eventually if given a chance. The first demolition order has recently been given to an illegally constructed hotel on a nesting beach in the Chania area. Unsurprisingly, it has not yet been enforced. It does however set a precedent and give some hope for Crete’s future as a sustainable tourism destination. Whether it will be in time for the sea turtles’ continuing survival is the real question. They have so far outlived all disasters that have struck this planet since the dinosaur era so maybe, just maybe, we are underestimating their resilience….Let’s not leave it to chance though and act now before it is too late.

Things you can do:
There are several things you can do to help while on holiday in a sea turtle nesting area:

Ask your operator or hotel what they are doing to minimise the impact on turtles and the environment (e.g. switching lights off at night, stacking sun beds, retaining native vegetation). If they can't demonstrate this, they're probably not taking it very seriously so consider booking elsewhere (and let them know why you're not booking). There are plenty of other turtle-friendly alternatives, see some examples here .
Do not go on the beach at night - you may disturb a turtle trying to nest or step on a hatchling
Do not use torches or flashlights on the beach at night - it can distract hatchlings on their way to the sea. If you are staying near the beach, ensure your lights are turned off after dusk, or ask your hotel to.
Do not buy any turtle products
Clear your sunbed and umbrella off the beach at night and don't leave any litter. It can obstruct the mother or trap the hatchlings, and plastic bags can in the sea be mistaken by turtles for jellyfish and ingested.
Volunteer on a sea turtle project, have a look at our sea turtle conservation trips here

Turtle Links and resources: