Shock for Zakynthians and visitors when an incident occurred today 04/08 in the area of Agios Sostis as, as posted by the photographer and member of “Archelon” Mr. Kostas Papafitsoros, a male loggerhead turtle was fatally injured that had been swimming in the waters of Laganas Bay for over 18 years, specifically since 2008.

In his post, the photographer and member of the sea turtle protection group states, among other things: “This male turtle had made Laganas Bay his home for the last 18 years. He was the second oldest turtle in Zakynthos. Thousands of visitors have seen him over the years. Today he was hit by a boat outside Agios Sostis. It is an area with uncontrolled traffic from boats that run like crazy and nothing can be done”.

It is worth noting that this particular turtle had been injured again over time, but not fatally, by a boat two years ago. He was also one of the the most observed by boats.
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Members of Archelon went to see the injured turtle where they found it dead and emphasize that the situation in Laganas Bay is unacceptable, as unfortunately this is not the first time a turtle has been fatally injured, as there have been other cases that have been recorded.

Zakynthos Informer also would like to stress that these creatures are extremely venerable as the tourist season reaches its peak we would kindly ask that if you are hiring a boat, please adhere to the Marine Park rules! A link has been provided below.
zanteturtlecenter.com/en/nmpz-zones/
 Source:-imerazante

​The 6th of August, a day of celebration, for it is the Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ, in Greek it is known as the Metamorphosi tou Sotiros Christou=(Μεταμόρφωση του Σωτήρος Χριστού). The feast commemorates the transfiguration or metamorphosis of Christ. 

The story goes that Jesus plainly told His disciples that He would suffer, be killed, and be raised to life. Taking his three disciples Peter, James and John up a mountain to pray. While praying, His personal appearance was changed into a glorified form, and His clothing became a dazzlingly white. Moses and Elijah appeared and talked with Jesus about His death that would soon take place (Crucifixion). Peter, not knowing what he was saying and feeling very frightened, offered to put up three shelters for them. This is they say was in a reference to the booths that were used to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, when the Israelites dwelt in booths for 7 days. Peter expressed his wish to stay in that place. When a cloud enveloped them, a voice said, “This is My Son, whom I have chosen, whom I love; listen to Him!” The cloud lifted, Moses and Elijah had disappeared, and Jesus was alone with His disciples who were still very much afraid. Jesus warned them not to tell anyone what they had witnessed until after His resurrection.
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The disciples never forgot what happened that day on the mountain and no doubt this was intended as John wrote in his gospel, “We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only”. Peter also wrote of it, “We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to Him from the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.’ We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with Him on the sacred mountain”. Those who witnessed the transfiguration bore witness to it to the other disciples and to countless millions down through the centuries. Even today the story is told, the 6th of August is a reminder to those that there is always 'light' at the end of the tunnel. The Greeks celebrate this day as a starting point for change after hardship and turmoil, that they will be enlightened. ​In many places, they believe that on the eve of the feast, at some time, the heavens suddenly open and the “holy light” appears to those who had the patience and faith to stay awake

​For Zakynthians, in the past it would be a day for when they would take their grapes to the church for the priest to bless after the service, thus hoping their crops would be abundant, in some parts of Greece the custom is still acted out, here in Zakynthos however, I personally have not seen it or have heard that some still carry on this tradition. 

​However, It is a Holy day and the custom of eating cod, usually fried and Zakynthian aliatha (garlic dip) served with plenty of bread to dip in the aliatha, is definitely a custom that has not died out. It is also a day that those who are named Sotirios/Sotiria, Emorfia, Morfoula celebrate their name day, so for August the 6th.... Χρόνια πολλά!

It was located in the underwater area, we have room for a much larger tremor without any problems, the president of OASP, Efthymios Lekkas, told ERTNews about the strong seismic tremor measuring 5 on the Richter scale that occurred on Friday afternoon at 19:24 in Strofades, off the coast of Zakynthos.

In any case, the area is being monitored after a tremor of such magnitude. It was not even felt in Kefalonia or the Peloponnese and it is not related to the tremors that occurred earlier in Lixouri, the president of OASP added.

According to a geodynamic institute, the epicenter of the tremor was 60 kilometers west of Strofades and the focal depth is estimated at 10.8 kilometers.

People who are living in Zakynthos posted across social media mentioning the event, and that they felt slight movement while others mentioned they didn't feel a thing. 

It's important to note that Zakynthos' approach to Anti-seismic construction and regulations are very strict and have changed radically for a better future with new improved buildings. 

Source:-  www.naftemporiki.gr/society/1980476/e-lekkas-gia-seismo-sti-zakyntho-den-yparchei-logos-anisychias-einai-ston-ypothalassio-choro/

The Mayor of Zakynthos, George Stasinopoulos, stated:
​“A new era is beginning for our city. For the first time, Zakynthos has 7 new municipal parking lots, 5 in our city, over 2000 parking spaces connected to the city center and all of this for FREE.
Traveling to the City Center is finally becoming easier. We are providing a definitive solution to a perennial problem.
I would like to thank the entire municipal authority and the services of the Municipality that carried out this unprecedented process.
I would like to invite the citizens of the island, our visitors, to embrace this effort together, to get to know our city differently again.”
This new circular service connects the new municipal parking lots with the city center, facilitating comfortable, fast and environmentally friendly travel.

As we can see from the picture above, the route is circular, with continuous routes to and from the city center.
Route to Dionysios Solomos Square (Zante Center):
1. Old Hospital
2. Kaminia – Zakynthos Bus Station
3. Kydoni – Jumbo
4. Agios Dionysios
5. Agios Loukas Square
6. Dionysios Solomos Square
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Return to Old Hospital (without Kydoni – Jumbo stop):
1. Dionysios Solomos Square
2. Agios Loukas Square
3. Agios Dionysios
4. Kaminia – Zakynthos Bus Station
5. Old Hospital
6. *passengers heading to the “Kydoni – Jumbo” stop remain on the bus and disembark on the return trip to Solomos Square.
• Opening hours: Daily 07:00 – 23:00
• Frequency of routes: approximately every 20 minutes.

source:- www.facebook.com/stasinopoulos3

It was a normal Friday night on Zakynthos when Zakynthos Informer spotted a breaking news Facebook post and video, that said a wildfire had broken out on the island. Immediately, the news spread and people started sharing it to Facebook, which started to cause concern and panic amongst locals and tourists.

Zakynthos Informer immediately checked the local news and their island contacts, including the fire department, only to discover there was no fire on the island. By this time, however, the post and its video, had been shared across Facebook 38 times and the video had over 30k views.

Zakynthos Informer tagged the post owners to say the information was incorrect, but the post remained live. They then messaged and tagged admins of other Zakynthos pages to let them know the information was wrong so that any shared posts could be removed.

The main posts still remained live with views and shares going up…spreading news across the world about the Zakynthos wildfire, that wasn’t…

Zakynthos Informer then directly messaged the original Facebook page owner, to explain the situation. Whilst waiting for a response, we screenshot the video image and uploaded it to Google reverse image search. The multiple return hits confirmed that the video was of a wildfire, on the mainland in the area of Agios Dimitris Koropi, Attiki.

Eventually, after receiving our messages and reverse image screenshot, the original post was taken down.

Be careful what you share! 

Millions of people use Facebook as their go to for information. At Zakynthos Informer we pride ourselves on getting the facts on anything that happens on our island, before posting. There are always two sides to a story and there can often be inconsistencies or fake news that ends up being innocently shared by Facebook users, which in the end can be incredibly harmful.

We’re not writing this post to “show off” or say “we saved the day” - we don’t care about that - we’re writing it to point out how badly misinformation can spread and cause serious upset and damage, and the steps it can take to sometimes get these situations resolved.

Last night there were parents on Facebook panicking about their children who were on holiday on Zakynthos.
Last night there were holidaymakers and visitors who worried that their holiday may have just turned into a nightmare.
Last night there were frustrated business owners and locals commenting to refute the information and being ignored.

None of this was necessary.

So please, before you share Facebook posts about the island and any serious incidents relating to it.
Stop and think.
​Is the post real?
Is the post from a reputable source?
Will the post do more harm than good?

We’re not the Facebook Police (what an awful job that would be right?), but we don’t want to see anyone upset or endangered because of inconsistent or fake posts, when a simple two minute check could go a long way to saving time, stress and a lot of aggravation.

If you'd like to learn more about the Do's an Don'ts of Fire Season we have some helpful advice on our website.