With individual tanks ranging from 2,000 to 14,000 liters, a medical room, a recovery area and rehabilitation tanks, we ensure optimal care until turtles are released back into the wild. Our operational team, consisting of a veterinarian, biologists, and naturalists, works with dedication to care for the sea turtles housed at the CRTM.We monitor cetacean strandings and protect sea turtle nesting sites, working in coordination with the Regional Network for Marine Wildlife Conservation to safeguard biodiversity along the Sardinian coast, ensuring timely and effective interventions.

Despite being protected by international regulations, they continue to face threats from accidental captures during fishing activities, the accumulation of debris and pollutants that degrade their habitats, disturbances caused by human activities and coastal development that invades the beaches where they nest. In the Mediterranean Sea, the most common species is the Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta Caretta).
The Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia Mydas) and the Leatherback Sea Turtle (Dermochelys Coriacea) are also present, although in smaller numbers.

The first scientifically documented case of nesting in Sardinia is relatively recent and dates back to the end of August 2006 on the beach of Geremeas. Identified from the beginning, it attracted public attention and was constantly monitored, but no hatchlings were produced. The late deposition period and the rapid decrease in temperatures recorded that year led to the failure of that nesting. That first event could have been considered an exception for the beaches of Sardinia, but it awakened faded memories of stories from fishermen and solitary bathers on the deserted Sardinian beaches of the 60s and 70s, who claimed to have witnessed the hatching of a sea turtle nest.
In the last decade, the discovery of sea turtle nests on the beaches of Sardinia has significantly increased. From the first case in 2006 to the end of the 2024 nesting season, the total number of Caretta Caretta nests recorded by the Regional Network for Marine Fauna Conservation is 62.

These social animals live in pods, where each individual recognizes and communicates with others using sound signals, a true language composed of sounds ranging from low to high frequencies. This form of communication is essential, especially in the mother-calf relationship, allowing them to maintain continuous contact. Various cetacean species inhabit our seas, including the Fin Whale, Sperm Whale, Orca, Minke Whale, Cuvier’s Beaked Whale, Pilot Whale, False Killer Whale, Risso’s Dolphin, Bottlenose Dolphin, Rough-toothed Dolphin, Striped Dolphin, and Common Dolphin. The area between the French Riviera, Liguria, Tuscany, Corsica, and northern Sardinia has a particularly high density of whales and dolphins. For this reason, the Cetacean Sanctuary was established in 1999 as a protected marine reserve. France, Italy, and the Principality of Monaco, as signatories of the agreement for its creation, are committed to protecting marine mammals and their habitats by mitigating the negative impacts of human activities.

In our seas, several species of large pelagic sharks live, such as the blue shark, the basking shark, the grey shark, the fox shark, the mako shark and the great white shark. Sharks have a cartilaginous skeleton and a streamlined body with triangular fins, a pointed snout, gill slits, and a mouth equipped with several sets of teeth that are continuously renewed. They give birth in areas known as nurseries, where the young spend the early stages of their lives. They are opportunistic predators at the top of the food chain, playing an important role in maintaining the balance of populations by preying on the weaker individuals, contributing to the conservation of marine biodiversity.

We monitor accidental catches and strandings of cetaceans along the southwestern coast of Sardinia, preserving their osteological remains for museum and scientific research purposes. Additionally, we provide logistical and operational support for the collection of biological samples by zooprophylactic institutes involved in health surveillance on causes of death. In collaboration with international research institutes, we conduct fundamental scientific studies aimed at understanding the molecular and structural biology of pathogens (viruses and bacteria) that infect marine mammals, representing one of the leading causes of stranding and mortality.