August 2023: Lacona Caretta caretta turtle nest

In the summer of 2023 Elba was witness to a new record: the wonderful and completely unexpected fact that there were as many as six nests of the Caretta caretta turtle on six different beaches on the Island.

The second nest to be discovered was that on thebeach in Lacona, that granted lovers an unbelievable exhibition as well as establishing a new record on Elba.

On the evening of August 25th, a hole in the sand was seen and the eggs started to hatch, followed by tiny Caretta caretta turtles fighting their way to reach the surface.

Once the eggs had hatched strong waves hit the Island of Elba, so the volunteers watching over the nest were worried that there were still some unhatched eggs below the sand. But the baby tutles were smarter than anyone thought and obviously felt the storm was near because all had already fled the nest and reached the open sea.

The moment the nest was uncovered the volunteers were pleasantly surprised to see that 89 eggs had hatched and that the birth rate had reached an strong>unbelievable 95%.

The nest in Lacona was looked upon as a victory by the Tuscan Archipelago National Park, and the event once again proves that Mother Nature has many more wonderful sights awaiting us if we are willing to protect her and are ready for her.