A woman was bitten by a sea turtle while swimming at Marathi Beach in Greece on Tuesday night. She was taken to a nearby clinic in Chania, Crete, where she was treated and given precautionary antibiotics.
Sea turtle bite in Chania
According to Zarpanews, the woman was in the shallows, just a few feet away from the beach in Marathi, when she was bitten by the turtle, sustaining injuries on her bottom.
The woman was taken to a private clinic in Chania where she was treated with first aid and given antibiotics as a precaution against the turtle bite.
According to reports, this is the second incident of this kind this year in Chania. Last year, a saga of similar attacks occurred, with turtles biting swimmers in Marathi. Sea turtles live solitary lives.
Infringing on habitat of sea turtles
Archelon, The Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece, reminds people that “every time we forget that sea turtles belong to the wild, we or another fellow human being may be reminded in an unpleasant way.”
The organization explains that if someone gets the chance to meet a turtle at sea, they may try to approach it by swimming to touch it or possibly throw some food to it, but the reactions of these ancient animals do not resemble pets.
“A turtle at sea can chase you away from its living space. Also, if it has been fed at this spot by humans, it can approach you and bite you,” warns the group.
Feeding sea turtles leads to increased attacks
Speaking on whether swimmers have been seen feeding turtles, Nikoletta Sidiropoulou, Archelon officer for Zakynthos, said, “Some years ago, in the summers of 2016-2017, we observed tourists feeding sea turtles in Laganas bay, a nature protection area established for sea turtle conservation.”
She added: “Fortunately, the National Marine Park of Zakynthos informed the owners of tourist boats in the area and we informed visitors in our kiosks. Consequently, no such observation has been reported from 2018 onwards.”
Apparently, fishermen may throw non-tradable catches back into the sea when they empty their nets, and so any “permanent” sea turtles around harbors can benefit from this.
However, according to an Archelon spokesperson, “Increasing information reaches ARCHELON which indicates there are owners of restaurants or bars in various areas who engage in regular feeding of sea turtles at sea, in order to have them admired by their customers.”
The spokesperson added:
“In March 2020, during a show of the famous chef Akis Petretzikis (Akis’ Food Tour), dedicated to Mani, we watched the owner of a tavern in Limeni boasting that he has been feeding the four sea turtles of the area on the remains of fish, octopuses, and squid, every day for one year at least. The result: 40 cases of bathers bitten by the turtles in the summer of 2019 and 170 cases in the summer months of 2020, confirmed by the Areopolis Health Center nearby.”
