Organization Heads Program Focusing On Developing Strategies To Restore The Sea Turtles Of Malta
Off the western coast of Malta lies a little-known gem of an ecosystem which is incidentally also a sea turtle nesting site; however, recent years have shown a significant increase in hatchling fatalities at Gnejna Bay. After a surprising one hundred hatchlings successfully emerged and made it to the ocean just this past week, an organization called Nature Trust is taking the initiative to instigate a conservation program in order to study the nesting rates of the sea turtles that arrive at the Ä nejna Bay. Since this has been only the second successful hatching for over a decade, conservationists are eager to collaborate data which may assist in developing new strategies to further enhance the hatch rates of the nests that are laid each and every year, in addition to discovering what might possibly be inhibiting the previous years nests from hatching. Along with detailed DNA testing, Nature Trust will be monitoring which turtles return to the bay and also keeping tabs on the fatalities that occur. As they continue to research the effects of development and human encroachment, the ultimate goal is to reduce these threats to the sea turtles and thus cause a long-awaited rebound in the Malta sea turtle population.
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Health & Medical
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Miscellany
USA: Missing turtle discovered in unlikely location
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Photo from Jonathan Borg.
