Torches off or they won’t hatch
The turtle laying the eggs in the sand at Ġnejna bay. The photographer did not use flash in order not to disturb the turtle. Photos: Mark Zammit Cordina
It is the final countdown: anytime between now and mid-August, the 70 loggerhead turtle eggs, nesting in Ġnejna Bay, should hatch.
The exact date cannot yet be determined, but the event will probably take place in the wee hours of the morning, when the temperature is at its lowest.
“They hatch when it’s dark as they are too sensitive to the sun and heat,” said the senior environment protection officer at the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, Carmen Mifsud.
As of this week, Mepa is appealing to the public to leave their torches, gas lamps and lanterns at home when they head to Ġnejna Bay. “We can’t risk having any lights near the nest because if they hatch, they will disorient themselves,” Ms Mifsud explained.
Once out of their eggs, the turtles “scurry in a frenzy” towards the open sea. “The horizon is their guide. If there is artificial light, it would put them on the wrong track,” she said. This essentially would mean they would lose the homing behaviour and, as a result, any surviving turtles would not come back in 30 years’ time to nest as they would not recognise the bay. There is also the slight concern that the eggs might not hatch at all – for all sorts of reasons.
“Maybe the fertilisation was not successful. Maybe the eggs got a bacterial infection from the sand. Or maybe seawater seeped in under the nest,” Ms Mifsud said.
Mepa is laying the ground to prevent a similar scenario to the night when the “mother turtle” lumbered on to the sandy beach to lay the eggs – amid camera flashes and jubilant onlookers.
No flashes and no mobile phones will be allowed and criminal proceedings could be taken in case of disturbances on the hatching night.
The cordoned off area will be extended to the sea so that the baby turtles can find their way to the water quicker.
“It is also imperative that people do not touch the baby turtles. Upon contact with human body temperature, they become inactive and it somehow affects their ‘frenzy’ to get to the sea and make them more susceptible to predators.”
Turtles have been a protected species since 1992 with a minimum fine of €476 for each turtle caught, although penalties can increase to include jail time.
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51 Comments
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Dorris geddes
Aug 12th 2012, 08:59
it is really wonderful to see the effort being taken. Well done! It would be wonderful to see the turtles return permanently. Just hope that no cruel people or hunters come and kill them..
Noel Camilleri
Aug 6th 2012, 13:08
I suggest that These bays should be protected at least from Artificial light-pollution , example.. Any nearby fixed lighting should be fully shielded so light can be directed onto the car park without disturbing the beach. Thanks.
Joe Xuereb
Aug 3rd 2012, 23:19
Turtles produce eggs and Malta produces Philistines, it seems. Indeed I know!
Ivan Falzon
Aug 3rd 2012, 17:19
judging from some comments made below i m afraid these magnificent creatures have only a slim chance of hatching. i mean whats this? people were allowed to light bbqs right next to the nest ? and the beach all lighted up with floodlights making it look like a football pitch? surely the authorities could have done something more about this-after all this was a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Paul Zammit
Aug 3rd 2012, 14:08
amazing creatures!
Jo Gatt
Aug 3rd 2012, 13:45
Hopefully we will have video recording equpiment installed to witness this event if it happens while we are all still sleeping :-)
Joseph Aquilina
Aug 3rd 2012, 13:17
No Boats, no fishnets, no scuba, etc. etc. Regardless if they hatch or not we should learn from such experience and improve for the next episode of such a great story.
Stephen Frendo
Aug 3rd 2012, 12:57
What about the fishing nets (pariti) at the beach?
Nadia Falzon
Aug 3rd 2012, 12:55
I think all TV and radio stations should broadcast this news regularly over the next couple so that people are aware of this event.
C Pace
Aug 3rd 2012, 14:03
Yes. And then we should declare it as National Day and add it to the lot!
Elaine Debono
Aug 3rd 2012, 14:25
Oh definitely!!! there should be tv cameras and all the media on the beach if it were for the likes of the majority of the population .... the best thing for these darlings right now would be peace and quite and a good, uneventful transition from land to their new aquatic home .... they do not need all the media hype!!
Nadia Falzon
Aug 3rd 2012, 20:42
actually what I meant is to EDUCATE people and teach them what to do.....ie stay away from the beach.....
M Bonello
Aug 3rd 2012, 12:42
The lights ban was a farce from the get-go, seeing that the kiosk has two floodlights pointing toward the beach, so we need to ban all lights and bbqs or the turtles might get disorientated but we cannot really tell the kiosk owner to douse his lights…
H. Galea (NRK)
Aug 3rd 2012, 13:56
This should be looked at as an all-out concerted effort to protect nature continue with its natural course. If the kiosk owner is prepared to play game, he would take this initiative without being asked to - if not, then SUSPEND HIS LICENCE TO OPERATE UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE ! No monkey business should be tolerated, wherever it is coming from.
Matthew Farrugia
Aug 3rd 2012, 12:35
How amazing is the underwater world.... to have a glimpse of what's beneath the surface visit www.matfar.co.uk/uw
Mr ALBERT LEONE GANADO
Aug 3rd 2012, 12:31
As an layman I ask whether it is possible if the turtles hatch to keep them for a few weeks in a holding rearing pool to give them a better chance of surviving life in the wild.
Claire Busuttil
Aug 3rd 2012, 11:18
go turtles go....!!! wish all the eggs good luck!
Marco Farrugia
Aug 3rd 2012, 11:11
how about the lighting in the parking lot? is it being switched off?
And the lights from the gabbana?
How about increasing security for these coming weeks?
i agree with making the beach out of bounds to any human activity, especially during the night.
Franco Abela
Aug 3rd 2012, 11:09
MAKE IT OUT OF BOUNDS FOR 2 WEEKS.... THIS IS NOT SOMETHING THAT HAPPENS OFTEN SO NO ONE SHOULD FEEL DEPRIVED!
John J Borg
Aug 3rd 2012, 13:28
....and who told you there will be no other hatches in other beaches????.....if it was not spotted laying the eggs...it would have been business as usual......
Justin Spiteri
Aug 3rd 2012, 11:08
Any human messing about with these eggs / hatchlings should be punishable by death.
Mr M Grima
Aug 3rd 2012, 13:09
DEATH!!!?!!
fredu debono
Aug 3rd 2012, 11:05
naqbel perfettament ma kullhadd. ghandu jkun hemm warden il-hin kollu biex il-ligi ma tinkisirx. ghandha tinghalaq il-bajja u hadd ma jithalla jersaq lejhom. din xi haga rari ghalina, pajjizi ohra jiehu dawn l-affarijiet bis-serjeta, imma ahna poplu njurant u nahsbu li nifhmu hafna u qisu kullhadd bi dritt ghandu bicca mil-bajja
H. Galea (NRK)
Aug 3rd 2012, 11:01
Declare the beach OUT OF BOUNDS to any human until further notice, assign a couple of wardens on a 24/7 roster - and good luck to the newly hatched !
H. Galea (NRK)
Aug 3rd 2012, 12:00
I indended to add that ALL SOURCES of light are to be elimanted - actually there will not be any need for any such lighting once human visitors are prohibited from using the beach - the kiosk owner would not have any business reason to remain open - and in case he would, the permit should be tempoarily suspended.
Sue De Nym
Aug 3rd 2012, 10:59
Why should there be all this cacophany about something purely natural? Sadly humans have been interfering with nature for far too long. Obviously, to our detriment....
anthony sultana
Aug 3rd 2012, 10:58
No fishing nets should be allowed close to Gnejna beach, please take note.
Shawn Grixti
Aug 3rd 2012, 10:57
Then they need to switch off the flood lights beaming on the beach AND parking area, and also the Kiosks need to switch off all lighting as well.
E. Cuschieri
Aug 3rd 2012, 10:47
I think closing off the beach completely would be going a bit extreme. I've been volunteering with Nature Trust watching over the nest as I've been amazed as to how co-operative the general public has been. Lots of people have shown a great interest and I believe that this has been a learning experience for everyone. This turtle has opened up a lot of people's eyes as to how beautiful nature can be and hopefully we can all start taking care of our environment a bit more then we have in the past.
Victor Rodenas
Aug 3rd 2012, 10:37
I do not think that taking into consideration the small size of our sandy beaches and the high amount of people who use them, that the sand is clean.The water is clean but the sand is not.Take some sand home with you in a jar and see how many times you need to wash it to become clean.I did it .
Lisa Young
Aug 3rd 2012, 10:47
I don't suggest publicizing that as it's illegal to remove sand from the beach lol
C Agius
Aug 3rd 2012, 10:23
I was there on Tuesday evening and with four floodlights beaming down on the sand, it looked more like a football pitch then a beach. those eggs have no chance in hell.
Mr Jamie Frendo
Aug 3rd 2012, 10:47
I also was there on Wednesday and I said since the Turtles follow the moonlight over the horizon when they hatce they are all going to end up in the car par as the entire beach was lit up! also people lighting BBQ's right next to the nest and no one said anything.......
Daniel Rohan
Aug 3rd 2012, 10:22
I think there's a high risk that people will think themselves experts(especially if they had some a turtle in their lifetime), I wouldn't be surprised if some lady sees them hatch and runs at them screaming and grabbing them with her children. It is quite impossible to teach sense to hard-headed, ignorant people. I don't think that spreading awareness is enough, I think other means of enforcing the conditions needed for the turtles is needed. These means involve signs for no forms of artificial lighting and persons employed to patrol the area in search of persons deviating from this temporary policy. Also, I believe that the path that is going to be taken by the turtles to get to the water should be closed off further. It is very risky to insert the public with the ideal behaviour. Some of my suggestions may already have been done, I do not know, it doesn't say.
A Airony
Aug 3rd 2012, 10:50
Have you read Satiristan's fb page? Says it all. People only care about their barbeques!
Joe Xuereb
Aug 3rd 2012, 10:14
I have just seen a Nature documentary on BBC1 showing turtles hatching and scurrying towards the sea. The film was shot using infra-red techniques. This could be used for this event in Malta when it could then be enjoyed by all on television, the Internet. The bay must be closed to the public until this happens; if not what happened during the laying will happen again. It yet another aspect of that other syndrome, ie 'the Maltese love a beauty-spot so much that they want to live (and develop, to make big money) in it. Thus turning the beauty-spot into an ugly-spot full of noise, unsightliness, debris (both human and consumerist).
Wouldn't it be wonderful if Malta's population were depleted - some hope! - and the island would become a turtle sanctuary like those areas in the South Pole where one cannot see the ground for penguins? And turtles existing as Nature intended won't need Detention Centres. Dream on Joe!
tony camilleri
Aug 3rd 2012, 11:04
save the planet.. kill yourself.
Adrian Schembri
Aug 3rd 2012, 10:05
Just close the beach and mount an infrared/starlight webcam so anyone interested can watch it online.
Joseph Aquilina
Aug 3rd 2012, 13:20
Great Idea!!!
S. Zahra
Aug 3rd 2012, 09:58
just close the beach for two weeks. I think that everyone will understand.
HENRY FENECH AZZOPARDI
Aug 3rd 2012, 09:56
'' Maybe fertilisation was not successul. Maybe the eggs got a bacterial infection from the sand. Or maybe seawater seeped in under the nest.''
I must add MAYBE HUMAN INTERVENTION BY SHIFTING THE EGGS INLAND COUNTER ACTED AGAINST NATURE.
No one would know the exact reason for any mishatching so let us all hope that the majority of these eggs will hatch and the turtles find their way to a new life.
In my opinion the mother turtle layed its eggs where she feels best for her eggs, and if any human intervention was necessary this should have been limited to sheltering the next from the upcoming waves by building a very low brick fence and remove it days before hatching date.
I am no expert but nature should always be given top priority.
M Farrugia
Aug 3rd 2012, 12:04
enry shifting eggs from one place to aother is very common in Greece where turtles still breed in special protected beaches so the human intervention at that stage is not a problem at all.
anton murcia
Aug 3rd 2012, 09:54
Indeed turtles must be seriously protected and encouraged to breed, one of the reasons being that to a large extent they protect us from the stinging jellyfish pestilence. It is indeed a shame to see these creatures entangled in fishing nets and I must add it is high time to stop abusively casting these lethal nets very near to our shores. Years ago you could observe an extremely richer aquatic life in our ports.
Ian Mamo
Aug 3rd 2012, 09:47
Just close gnejna bay in these times to prevent human stupidity.
Mr Alexander Azzopardi
Aug 3rd 2012, 10:09
Naqbel perfetament ma dak li qieghedd tighd, biss ejja nahsbu f'dak il proxmu li kien huwa li iraporta lil Awtoritajiet...
Franco Abela
Aug 3rd 2012, 11:10
ejja nahsbu f'dak il proxmu li kien huwa li iraporta lil Awtoritajiet...
INTUH MIDALJA!
C Cassar
Aug 3rd 2012, 09:39
Why not just close the beach from now until the eggs hatch and they return to the sea? There are plenty of other beaches in the area for people to use.
alfred seguna
Aug 3rd 2012, 09:53
fully agree.
Kenneth Bezzina
Aug 3rd 2012, 09:54
Unfortunately, as soon as the bay is closed, people will suddenly decide that they want to go there.
david debattista
Aug 3rd 2012, 10:15
I am with you all the way !
Thomas Armatys
Aug 3rd 2012, 11:31
If you close the beach somebody who has a boathouse in the area or who uses the area to launch his boat might decide to destroy the eggs to get access to the area again. People's selfishness has no bounds unfortunately.
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