Fauna

The marginated tortoise (scient. Testudo marginata) is the largest European tortoise, reaching a weight of up to 5 kg and a length of 35 cm. It is not native species of Crete, although fossils have been found on the island. However, more and more domestic tortoises appear in the Cretan countryside, as they escape from their homes.

Hare (scient. Lepus europaeus) is one of the most widespread mammals throughout Europe, which also exists in large numbers throughout the island of Crete. It's a herbivorous mammal whose length can reach 55 centimeters and whose weight is approximately 2-3 kilos. Its color is hazelnut-grey to grey brown. It has long ears, its hind legs are longer than the front ones and its pads are covered with a thick coat leaving a characteristic trace on the snow.

Risso’s dolphin (scient. Grampus griseus) is a species of dolphin that lives in all oceans of the world. This species has relatively small populations in all the Greek seas, with the seas of Crete being among them (mainly sea north of Crete).

The green sea turtle (scient. Chelonia mydas) has been met very rarely in the Greek seas and there are no indications for nesting on Greek shores. It is also found rarely off the Cretan seas and is the largest sea turtle with hard shell in the world.

The common short-beaked dolphin (scient. Delphinus delphis) was once the most common dolphin species in Greece, but unfortunately it is nowadays threatened with extinction. Indeed, the name “common” was firstly given by Aristotle in ancient times, due to its abundance in Greek Seas. Today it lives mainly in the Ionian Sea and is rarely found in Crete.

The hawksbill sea turtle (scient. Eretmochelys imbricata) is an endangered sea turtle species found primarily in tropical seas. Some of them (very few) have been met in the open sea south of Crete and in other Mediterranean areas.

Cuvier's Beaked Whale (scient. Ziphius cavirostris) is a large whale, which is found in almost all seas of the world. They have been observed many times in several places of Greece, with Crete being one of them.

The common minke whale (scient. Balaenoptera acutorostrata) is a small whale species, worldwide distributed, which is found quite often in the seas of the western Mediterranean Sea and less in Greek and Cretan Seas.