Funchal Marine Biology Station to hold turtle Open Night on Friday
Madeira GuideThe final summer session will examine juvenile loggerhead turtles, Madeira research and OKEAM's recovery work.
The Funchal Marine Biology Station will hold its next Open Night on 25 September 2026, with a guided tour at 20:00 and a marine-turtle lecture at 21:30. Booking is mandatory for the tour and can be made by email at ebmf@funchal.pt.
Thomas Dëllinger, a professor at the University of Madeira, will present "Marine turtles in Madeira: what we have learned, what we still do not know and why we need to protect them". The session is the final Open Night of the year and the last of three summer events.
Madeira's waters are an important habitat for juvenile marine turtles, particularly the loggerhead turtle, Caretta caretta, which spends several years in the open ocean. Research in Madeira over more than three decades has examined the turtles' origins, life patterns, feeding, diving, Atlantic navigation and the threats they face. The lecture will also cover unanswered questions and OKEAM's recovery work, including its contribution to research, conservation and training new researchers.
Open Nights were created more than 20 years ago and are part of Funchal City Council's educational programme. More than 2,000 people have attended the sessions, which combine guided tours and talks by researchers or other marine professionals for audiences of different ages.
The station previously hosted an Open Night on seabirds' nocturnal life, as reported in Marine Biology Station Hosts 'Open Night' on Nocturnal Life of Seabirds.
Update — 2026-09-25
The three annual Open Nights take place in July, August and September. They are held outside the station's normal opening hours to give the public access to its work.
Sources
Madeira Guide
Author