After many years of longing to be in the water with Loggerhead turtles Caretta caretta, I finally made my dream true last August. With the support and knowledge of Kostas Papafitsoros, I went to the famous beaches of southern Zakynthos in order to get in the sea with them. The adventure was easier than I expected, and this had to do with the fact that I had such a helpful guide. The turtles are not always easy to find because they change locations depending on the season.
The place where we found the turtles was not the usual sandy bottom that we are used to, when we see pictures of nesting turtles. This place is a site with large boulders in the sea, where some turtles come to feed on sponges. It was an easy, slow swim to search for a turtle, while the animal was searching for a sponge between the boulders.
The turtles are generally peaceful and slow. But some of them are not very well tempered and may attack and bite when you go very close. I was warned by Kostas about such an animal that he knew and it was a really helpful piece of advice because the animal did attacked me. Fortunately it was not that fast and I was able to swim away with no harm dome. So it was with surprise that I saw many a tourist swimming very close to any turtle they could find, even touching them on the carapace.
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