23/05/2025
What if I told you a magical story..... The beach on which baby loggerhaed turtles hatch will be the beach that they will come back to to lay their own eggs in the future.
How amazing is that!
Iztuzu beach in Dalyan is one of the most important sites for endangered loggerhead turtles. Just imagine a 5km stretch of golden sands from the base of a pine clad mountain to a river delta, with not a single hotel, house or car in sight & where these rare loggerhead turtles come to lay their eggs at night.
The sea turtle lays on average a hundred eggs, which incubate in the warm sand for 60 days.
At hatching time, something else amazing happens.....
With no mother to help them, the baby turtles instinctively make their way as fast as possible to the sea, guided mainly by sounds of the sea calling them & the moonlight reflected off the water.
It's a mad dash for the water, though, for apart from the many predators lurking along the beach ready to swallow them up, the baby turtles also are on limited time. The intense heat of the strong sun will dry their little bodies up & they will die if they don't hurry.
Once they enter the ocean, the poor hatchlings are on their own for good as they don't have any parental guidance or contact & they can be eaten by seabirds and fish.
Those which do make it to adulthood will live for between 50 - 100 years, though & any females will come back to Iztuzu beach to lay their own eggs! And so the cycle continues.
Dalyan boasts its own turtle sanctuary on Iztuzu beach where you & your group of extended family or friends will have the opportunity to see injured or sick loggerhead turtles before they are released, when better, back into the sea.
Magical memories in Dalyan await you. Come & discover turtles & all that Dalyan has to offer with a stay at Pomegranate Garden Villas. We'll be happy to help you.
