Part of the activities of the LIFE Euroturtles project is aimed at identifying areas important for the protection of the loggerhead sea turtles and the establishment of the Natura 2000 areas. In order to identify such areas in the Adriatic, the research team of the Croatian Natural History Museum and the Blue World Institute is conducting the first spring aerial survey in the Adriatic. The research is initially planned for early May during the period of the warming of the sea when the appearance of the sea turtles is expected. Unfortunately, due to the extremely bad weather, the research started on May 23, 2019. However, after only a few days of the year the results are remarkable – hundreds of loggerhead sea turtles have been observed to sunbathe on the surface of the sea, confirming that the Adriatic Sea is one of the key neritic habitats for Mediterranean loggerheads!

Researchers, as well as during previous aerial surveys (2010, 2013, and 2018), recorded the sightings of dolphins, seabirds and fish, confirming the added value of this research and collecting valuable data on the distribution and number of species.

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