At the Rocchetta a Volturno hatchery, during the EASME monitoring visit on 11 and 12 February, we observed through a digital microscope an egg that we had fertilized in early January with the cryopreserved seed.

When fertilization is successful, at a certain point of the incubation those two black points appear, which correspond to the two future eyes. At this stage, the embryonated eggs can be manipulated and moved without fear of damage to the embryo.

Even if so small, those eyes seem to be looking at us through the shell and one cannot remain indifferent to this gaze. They watch us devastate their habitats, dump rubbish on scrub beds and build insurmountable dams. We at NatSalMo are doing our best to bring them to redeveloped breeding sites, in more respected and unhindered environments, in those waterways where they had long since disappeared. We hope, once and for all, to make them proud of us.

Here is the link to the video: