A 12-year-old turtle is to be awarded honorary citizenship of this seaside resort in southwest Italy, after being saved from near death by locals.
The loggerhead sea turtle, named Golia (Goliath), was rescued at the start of September off the coast of Brancaleone, a Calabrian town on the toe of Italy's 'boot'.
A swimmer spotted the turtle stuck on a reef ten meters underwater and reported the animal's condition to local authorities.
"Golia was in an extremely serious condition when he was found," said the biologist Domenico Morabito, who heads Brancaleone's Sea Turtle Rescue Centre.
"If he had been found and reported just ten minutes later, he would certainly have died".
Golia, who is 60 cm long and now weighs a healthy 15 kilos, was starving when he was first fished from the water.
He had swallowed an entire trawl line, which Morabito believes he had probably been trapped in, and had floated around the sea for some time unable to eat or swallow.
"He is now well again and able to swim, and will soon be released back into the wild," said Morabito.
But before Golia swims off into the sunset, local authorities have decided to award him the keys to the town, in a ceremony taking place this Saturday.
Calabrian Environment Councillor Diego Tommasi explained the move formed part of a push to raise awareness over the plight of loggerhead turtles, as well as efforts by the regional government to protect local flora and fauna.
"Calabrian regional authorities are undertaking various initiatives to safeguard biodiversity," Tommasi said.
"The variety of animal and vegetable species that live on our lands and in our seas are the region's real jewels".
In addition to supporting projects by the Sea Turtle Rescue Centre, he said, the region was also backing a special loggerhead turtle monitoring program, run by Calabria University and the environmental group Legambiente.
Although loggerhead sea turtles are found in seas around the world, their populations have been in steady decline over recent years.
They used to be intensively hunted for their meat and eggs but the main threat now comes from fishing operations, with most turtles drowning after becoming trapped in nets that prevent them coming to the surface for oxygen.
Other threats come from loss of habitat due to coastal development, artificial light on coasts causing disorientation to nesting females and drilling operations at sea.
They are registered as endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, based on data indicating that the species has suffered an 80% population decline over the last three generations.
Trading in loggerheads is also banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
