A total of 111 turtles hatched at Ġnejna Bay, with only one egg remaining unhatched.

Monitors who were guarding the site had counted 100 young turtles when eggs began hatching late at night last Wednesday, but a more thorough examination of the nesting site has now revealed that numbers were even greater. 

Nature Trust and the Environment Resources Authority had said more turtles could emerge in the days following the initial hatching. The nest was at a depth of between 44 cm and 72 cm.

Nature Trust president Vincent Attard had told Times of Malta it was the most successful hatching rate among those in recent years.

The NGO is now waiting for a permit to conduct DNA tests on the eggs to determine if the same female turtles that had laid a nest in 2016 had returned.

In 2016, some 66 turtles had hatched at Golden Bay, with authorities determining that 90 per cent of the eggs had hatched successfully.

The last recorded nesting at Ġnejna Bay dates back to 2012. Back then, a summer storm was blamed for the eggs’ failure to hatch.

Mr Attard said both the incident in 2012 and the hatching in 2016 proved to be a great learning lesson in how to monitor nests.

Counting the number of hatched turtles was a tall order in the dead of night.