Loggerhead Sea Turtle Caretta Caretta in Astros

The Loggerhead Sea Turtle Caretta Caretta is listed in the international Red Data Book as an endangered species, the carapace length of the adult averages about 1 meter and they weigh about 165kg, but some over 200kg had been recorded.

There are loggerhead sea turtle's nesting grounds found in North Kynouria's beaches according to this news: Φωλιές Caretta caretta στο Παράλιο Άστρος Κυνουρίας
http://paratiritis-news.blogspot.gr/2009/08/caretta-caretta.html

Also, a video about someone discovered a turtle at night on July 15 2011 near Mousto's beach.
http://astrosnews.gr/?p=18074

So, the loggerhead sea turtle's nesting grounds in Greece are certainly not limited to these well-known places:
Gulf of Lagana (Zakynthos), Gulf of Kyparissia (Peloponnese), Rethymno (Crete), Gulf of Laconia (Peloponnese), Chania (Crete)

The incubation of eggs in sand takes around between 45 to 65 days depending on the location of nesting.  The sex of turtles is determined by the incubation temperature in the nest. Generally, we can say nests with temperatures lower than 29.2C will produce male turtles, and nests with temperatures higher than 29.2C will produce female turtles. But in nests with temperatures lower than 25C or higher than 35C, the eggs may die. The eggs which are at the bottom of the nest usually have a more stable and cooler temperature, while those that are near the surface are sensitive to the weather changes (cold or heat).  Source:http://www.archelon.gr/contents/photos/File/toolbox/2013/Summer/SEATURTLES_IN_NUMBERS.pdf

Caretta caretta live for over 80 years and feed mainly on marine plants and invertebrates, showing special preference for jellyfish.
http://www.wwf.gr/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=66&Itemid=85

The main threats to the survival of the species are:

- the degradation of its breeding habitats (tourism developments that undermine the conservation status of its nesting beaches and the bright lights and noise coming from human activities that disorient the hatchlings inland instead of towards the sea and result in their death)

- entanglement in fishing gear, especially shrimp trawling negatively impacts loggerheads population

- the accidental consumption of floating garbage and plastic bags because floating bags and jellyfishes shine alike

- collision with propellers of recreational and other types of boats

In one study, the turtle's diving behavior was observed by using time–depth recorders (TDR). The GPS data revealed that the turtles spent most of their time in shallow water (< 4 m sea bed depth) very close to the shore (< 200 m), primarily ranging along an 18.5 km section of coastline.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S002209810700158X

The above observation and frequent first-hand sightings of turtles close to shore during the breeding period - both suggest that existing legislation to safeguard sea turtles may not include the most critical habitats for female loggerhead sea turtles during the breeding period.

That's why there are many recorded turtle incidents near our sea during their breeding season, which is between June to August.

Recorded incidents in Astros area:

A dead turtle in the Κάτω Βέρβενα Kato Ververna beach on Monday August 5, 2013 - by the initial observation, suffocation from plastic bag is likely the cause of death, the turtle could have mistaken the plastic bag as a yummy jelly fish.
http://astrosnews.gr/?p=70682

On July 3, 2013 in Tyrou a turtle appearred possibly to lay eggs but disturbed.
http://www.tyrostsakonia.gr/tyros/3839-2013-07-04-18-43-04.html
η χελώνα μάλλον βγήκε για να γεννήσει τα αυγά της αλλά τα φώτα της δημοσιότητας την έκαναν να φύγει για άλλη παραλία της περιοχής πιό ήσυχη...Της ευχόμασται καλά γεννητούρια!!!!

A dead turtle on Monday May 6, 2013 http://www.protothema.gr/environment/article/276656/nekrh-thalassia-xelona-ksebrasthke-sto-astros/

An injured turtle in Portes on Wednesday August 3 2011
http://www.eleftheriaonline.gr/koinonia/koinoniki-drastiriotita/item/9674-διάσωση-θαλάσσιας-χελώνας-στο-παράλιο-αστρος

On Saturday June 4, 2011 a 1-meter length turtle was dead near Kallitsi (I think this location is near the 2nd orange lifeguard's post in the Astros Bay because in the older time there was an olive oil extraction plant called Kallitsi at this point), not hit but probably suffocated from swallowing a plastic bag. 
http://astrosnews.gr/?p=15981

Astros beach near "Kaliitsi" in late Feb 2012, notice Mt. Parnonas to the right of the orange post is snow capped

near the orange post is this tree that looks more beaufiful in the winter than in the summer!

On Sunday April 17, 2011 a dead turtle in Kato Ververna with unknown reason
http://astrosnews.gr/?p=12655

From the above incidents, the dead turtles show up on weekends or on Mondays more than other days of the week, hit by boat's propellers or swallowed plastic bags.

What can we do in the North Kynouria?

Astros' afternoon wind (ο μπάτης) blows away garbage including plastic bags (either placed or not in the garbage bins), since the bins are filled up before afternoon, the city should empty the garbage bins more often and especially before the gusting afternoon wind, plus beach goers and store operators should be more responsible for the garbage in their surrounding.

Some early morning after the beach cleaning machine ran over the sand, I checked the sand, most garbage were still underneath the sand buried further down, I think this machine actually can kill the turtle eggs wherever it goes. Its effectiveness is questionable.  Garbage can only be removed when people don't litter in the beach and responsibly put them in their own beach bags and deposit them later on in the bins on the streets. 

Certain coastal area (such as the sea near Moustos wetland) plus the wetland together can be designated as a marine national park, and boats with propellers and cars prohibited into the area.  A well organized wetland and coastal area with living animals plus well-developed inland hiking routes can attract tourism more.

Tourism without a vision can only destroy a beautiful place, from early 1990 and on I observed the tourism development in the Astros region with skepticism.  Just one simple example, where are the recycling bins? Every Mondays my husband has to load plastic bottles, tins, and papers in his car and transport them back to Athens to the recycling facilities there.

The city can actually do more by organizing beach cleaning awareness / events on every Sunday evening before sunset, and by separating kids into different age groups, a competition in each age group on who brings the biggest volume of garbage will be rewarded with a free meal up to a value of say €10 (sponsorship by local businesses), this kind of community activity is educational and fun, it also serves the purpose of cleaning the beach.

Please join the beach cleaning drive at 10:30am today at Del Mar.  

We should not be selfish enough to enjoy our lives and leave a dirty planet for our future generation, as North American Indians say:

"We have not inherited the earth from our parents, we have borrowed it from our children"

Other references:

Gives pictures of varieties of sea turtles http://www.euroturtle.org/1.htm

Sea Turtle Rescue Center ARCHELON
http://www.archelon.gr/eng/pedio_rescue.php

Details about Caretta Caretta's behavior
http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=163

Educational resources for biology teachers pertaining to Caretta Caretta in Greece
http://www.archelon.gr/contents/photos/File/toolbox/2013/Summer/SEATURT

Astros Bay late Feb 2012

This is a shot from the beach towards Mt. Zavitsa between camping Thirea and Portes in late Feb 2012, during the summer you see only sand and no accumulation of water at all here

This is the Atsiganos Ατσίγγανος beach in late March 2012

dried up river Tanos Ποτάμι Τάνος is where Astros garbage is being dumped including recyclable materials

Koutroufa Celebration - A Tribute to olives

Κούτρουφα Δέυτερο Αφιέρωμα στην Ελία

I saw a poster about the 2nd Koutroufa Tribute-to-Olive Celebration just one day (on Thursday) before it was held - on Friday August 2, 2013, so I went and took many photos and enjoyed watching the display of photos of olive trees, bought a jar of honey made from beehives placed in the Parnonas mountain range, bought some art pieces drawn on a round beach stone and a roof clay etc.
For a small community like this, I have to say it is a well-organized event.  Koutroufa is a small rural village in Arcadia, in the north side of Parnonas Mountain range with 182 permanent residents according to the 2001 population census.  I do not know its altitude, but according to the wikipedia in Greek language, it is 1,120  meters above the sea level.

Greek wiki has a brief introduction of the village: Τα Κούτρουφα είναι ορεινό χωριό της Αρκαδίας. Είναι χτισμένα στις βόρειες πλαγιές του Πάρνωνα σε υψόμετρο 1.120 μέτρων και είναι ένα από τα ορεινότερα χωριά του νομού Αρκαδίας. Διοικητικά ανήκουν στον δήμο Βόρειας Κυνουρίας και σύμφωνα με τηναπογραφή του 2001 ο πληθυσμός τους είναι 182 κάτοικοι.

It sets a perfect example for other Greek villages that no matter how small a community is, through cooperative and voluntary effort, an event can successfully attract visitors to the area and more local products can be sold and promoted in the market.

Some award-winning Greek chefs were invited from Athens to prepare simple yet delicious olive menus such as olive paste with cream cheese (I guess?) on bread, rusk, bread sticks etc.  I sampled only one piece of rusk with olive paste, I think the white layer is either some cream cheese or a blend of yogurt with some herb, but I could be wrong.  Anyways, it was a tasty combination.

This is the agricultural news announcement of this event in Greek.

Below are some of my photos from this event, to see the whole set of 72 photos, please click this link.

Related post: Some facts about Greek olive oil.

old tools used in olive oil processing

a picture of traditional ways of collecting & processing olives

soaps made from olives

a very old olive tree (could be nearly  

2000 years old) in Koutroufa's square

Mr. Stavros (far left) is a skillful electrician and a honey producer, many people in rural areas are multi-talented, they work different jobs in different seasons

busy bees are working as shown in an enclosed glass

handmade pastas

Greek mountain tea

spoon sweets & liquors made from fruits

an outdoor basketball court was used for the photo exhibition of olive trees, I was impressed that they could organize a successful event without renting any expensive space

  The story about ancient olive trees in the Thireas Θυρέας plain - Koutroufa is within the Thireas region

an artist posed with a smile

you can sample olive oils immersed in different herbs by dipping bread in the oil

people lined-up to sample food made from olives

a tray of olive paste on bread mixed with perhaps cream cheese topping

the whole exhibition was held outoors

a modern bee frame, and behind it is an old beehive (in Greek it is called 

Κουβέλι)

olive tarts

bread sticks with various olive dips

"donkey olive" is the biggest variety of olive, up to about 4 to 5 cm in diameter

Many people think the "Kalamon" olive variety is the tastiest, it is the name of a variety, but not necessarily grown in the Kalamata geographic region

must be volunteers, selling lottery for this event

award-winning chefs who made tasty samples of olive-related finger food

a young artist Eleni Boutsikaki Ελένη Μπουτσικάκη

She draws on woods, clays, and metals

an olive branch drawn on wood

Mr. Soulis was helping out on selling roast pigs, which he raised

I like γουρουνοπούλα με πέτσα roast pig with skin very much, but it is a pity that I didn't buy it because my father-in-law is fasting between August 1st and 14th, and my kids don't like, I cannot buy 1 kilogram and consume it all by myself while it's fresh.

Paralio Astros fall colors

The most eye-catching tree in Paralio Astros in the fall is this fig tree behind the theater near the old lighthouse (Faros).  The following photos were taken in October, November 2011.

Looking towards the Argolic Gulf from the old lighthouse of Paralio Astros

Looking towards the theater and the longer dock

Looking at the fig tree from Paralio Astros' longer dock

Gazing at the Argolic Gulf from Paralio Astros old lighthouse (Faros)

Looking towards the theater and the longer dock from the beginning of the shorter dock

Charity concert at the open theater of Paralio Astros

ΘΕΑΤΡΟ ΠΑΡΑΛΙΟΥ ΑΣΤΡΟΥΣ ΣΥΝΑΥΛΙΑ ΓΙΑ ΤΗΝ ΑΓΟΡΑ ΝΕΟΥ ΑΣΘΕΝΟΦΟΡΟΥ 

A concert was held last night at the open theater of Paralio Astros featuring traditional Greek music.  The concert was a fund raising drive (by the Association of Friends of Astros Health Center Σύλλογος Φίλων Κέντρου Υγείας Άστρους) for adding new ambulance vehicles to the (Mesogeio) Astros Healh Center.  By the way, the (Mesogeio) Astros Health Center provides the basic health care needs of the North Kynouria region. Since Paralio Astros has no health care center, if there is an accident while vacationing in Paralio Astros, the Astros Health Ceter will assess the complexity of the problem, and assist patients on whatever it can do within its limited resources (manpower and medical equipment), but more difficult operations are handled in Argos or Tripoli hospitals, which are at least 30 to 45 minutes away, not only more ambulance vehicles are needed, if we have more generous donors, a helicopter will be nice for the region...

I went to the concert just to support the cause, and was not preparing to take any photos, but upon arrival at the theater, a friend informed me that the Association of Culture & Friends of Paralio Astros would like me to provide a few pictures from the concert for its records, so I took some photos and videos with no brighter flash, no tri-pot, and simply by capturing the moment when the concert's light was at its maximum brightness, but with the concert's flashing light (and changing color too), this is by far the most challenging task for an amateur like me.

I like the instruments they played and the songs they sang alothough I couldn't join the rest of the crowd to sing as none of the songs are familiar to me but I really enjoyed the concert.  It's the best concert (and the most crowded I observed) at the open theater of Paralio Astros this summer.    

You can also view my short videos from the charity concert featuring traditional musical instruments (1st video below). Yerasimos Andreatos Γεράσιμος Ανδρεάτος (2nd video) , and little kids danced to the music (3rd video).

Beaches and diving fun in Paralio Astros

Paralio Astros has many different types of beaches:

Ververna beach (aka Palio Hano) Παραλία Κάτω Βέρβενα (Παλιόχανο) near the exit from the highway is very shallow and sandy, suitable for kids and beginners.

Atsiganos beach Παραλία Ατσίγγανος is sandy but with bothersome seaweeds, in my opinion is the worst beach for swimming in Paralio Astros, however it is the most crowded beach maybe because the beach bar operators there know how to attract customers, e.g. by holding beach dance parties? free beach lounge chairs? just guessing...

Kalisto beach Παραλία Καλλιστώ near taverna Lagoudera Λαγουδέρα and Plaz Πλάζ is the first organized beach in the Argolic Gulf, and is where sea water sample is collected for "blue flag" testing.  The beach has pebbles, but it is mixed with sand just a few meters further into the sea.  There is an orange-colored lifeguard post (but no life guard working), a shower, and a change cabin.  I have no idea in which month the water sample is taken, but in the summer time the water quality doesn't look as good as it used to be some 10 years ago because Paralio Astros has expanded as a summer resort without good planning and is awaiting for a household sewage connection project to take place.  When the tourists and part-time residents are gone after summer peak season the water quality is much better, but then the sea temperature is cooler for swimming.  

The main beach of Paralio Astros is quite long, it starts from the shorter dock (Del Mar Cafe-Restaurant Bar) continues to the above mentioned Kalisto area, then to Cafe Bythos, Cafe Movita, Bloom, La Nuna, Camping Thirea, Portes, etc. further to the Moustos Wetland.  The most sandy parts of the beach are between the Bloom and Camping Thirea, whereas Portes is considered as the end of Paralio Astros' beach because the very last beach bar is there.

The diver's beach is after the mermaid statue located at the longer dock (i.e. turn left at the center square στρίψτε αριστερά στιν πλατεία), where the open theater of Paralio Astros is located.  The mini beach there (and shrinking gradually year after year) is called Brahakia Βραχάκια (meaning rocks).  Near the Theater Cafe Bar, there are steps leading to the diving spots - there are approximately 3 levels of heights, this area is a natural training ground for diving.  But many kids also dive from the big rock with a Greek flag "Κότρωνα", or some further from the rocks near the area behind the old navy lighthouse without their parents' knowledge or simply seeking risky adventure, therefore, there are diving spots nicknamed "death 1", "death 2", and "mega death", etc.  I prohibit my children from diving from these "death" spots.

Here are some photos from diving fun near the Theater Cafe (clicking each picture will give you enlarged view) , to see the rest you may go to this link.

 This is the Theater Cafe where you find steps leading to the diving spots

 kids as well as adults are lining up for their turns to dive

 As you can see, there are 3 different heights of diving

 Looking ahead, the scenery is quite beautiful across the gulf

 taking off 1 of 3

 in the air 2 of 3

 splash...plunging into the sea 3 of 3

 Looking to the right from the diving spot is the longer dock

 Looking to the left is the open sea towards the direction of Island Spetses

 more risky diving spot near the wild figs

ask your chilredn and they will tell you all the risky diving spots

 dangerous precision diving spot