In 2020, monitoring activities began on June 1 and, by the end of the season, nearly 80 nests were identified and protected in Sicily and in the Ionian Gulf. An exceptional result if compared with the 2017 data – that year, 17 nests were found.

Likely, there are different reasons behind the increase of turtle nests along Italy shorelines. The monitoring activities carried out by WWF’s operators as part of the Euroturtles Project surely helped to improve the identification of nests and, thanks to the non-stop monitoring of the nests, the chances of survival of the hatchlings. The use of drones also contributed to identify a larger number of nests. Finally, the outreach activities for citizens and tourists allowed the timely reports of sea turtle traces along the beaches, and thus the mobilization of WWF operators to protect and further monitor the nests.