Currently, in the most important sea turtle nesting colonies, many more females than males are born due to this increase in global temperature, so the colonisation of less warm beaches for nesting allows a more balanced sex ratio to maintain the species.

In a scenario like this, it is very important to carry out conservation actions to protect this species, such as nest translocation or headstarting programmes.

The Headstarting programme is a technique for the conservation of endangered species that consists of maintaining young animals in controlled growth conditions, on a temporary basis, until their reintroduction into their natural habitat.

The aim of this project is to avoid the high mortality that occurs during the first months of life of these animals, when they are most vulnerable to dangers such as predators and other natural causes. It is estimated that only 1 out of every 1,000 sea turtles reaches adulthood.

Since 2019, the Palma Aquarium Foundation has made its facilities, knowledge and technical team available to the Consortium for the Recovery of Marine Fauna of the Balearic Islands (COFIB) and the Species Protection Service of the Regional Ministry of the Environment and Territory to be one of the centres where the Headstarting programme is carried out.

In 2019, 9 hatchlings born in the Balearic Islands were taken in, most of which have returned to the sea, and in 2021, 4 more hatchlings joined this project.

• The sea turtle hatchlings in the programme are fed every day with a porridge of sardine, hake, squid, shrimp, spinach and spirulina.
• Once a week they are weighed and their shell length and width are measured to check that they are growing correctly.
• Another determining factor in their growth is environmental enrichment, which consists of providing them with environmental stimuli to reproduce natural behaviours, increase space utilisation and prevent stereotyped behaviour.
• Veterinary checks are carried out to ensure that they grow up in perfect health. A laparoscopy operation is performed to determine the sex of the baby turtles.
• Once they have reached a suitable weight and size, they are returned to the sea to begin their life in their natural habitat with a higher survival rate.

The Sea Turtle Headstarting 2021-2022 project has been carried out thanks to the collaboration with CaixaBank and Fundació SaNostra within the framework of the Environment and Sustainable Development 2021 Call for Proposals.