Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1470553
15 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 12 JUNE 2022 NEWS ing during different weeks and months of the year." Deidun, who runs a crowd- sourced monitoring website for jellyfish, said people have been spotting the stingers since Jan- uary. The "big bloom" in jellyfish usually happens in April and lasts for a few weeks. "They cannot sustain themselves longer than that because they don't find enough food to eat," Deidun says. But it is still too early to tell whether this could be an an- nual recurrence, and more re- search is required for Deidun to give an accurate prediction. "What I can say is that what is happening is presumably be- cause of climate change – we have seen harsher seasons on the surface, longer winters, hotter summers, and all of this affects the sea as well. We have seen that it is taking longer for the sea to cool down even in November and December, and that will have a ripple effect." Deidun said the result of this is that species such as the mauve stinger jellyfish start re- producing later in the season. This could also affect species that feed on jellyfish, such as sea turtles, since the oppor- tunity to feed on jellyfish will come later in the season than usual. But he also assured that jel- lyfish blooms will subside over the next weeks. Deidun urged the gener- al public to participate in the "Spot the jellyfish" campaign, which is supported by the In- ternational Ocean Institute and the Physical Oceanogra- phy research group. "By do- ing this, the public can help bring awareness about the lo- cal diversity of jellyfish species through reporting sightings that are close to Malta's shores and beaches." More information is available at https://oceania.research. um.edu.mt/jellyfish/ SILKE BARON/FLICKR Iconic Mdina view threatened by Ta' Qali sports complex JAMES DEBONO A sports village whose sprawl will be as large as 30 football grounds, could eliminate the iconic view of Mdina as seen from the Durumblat Road. The sports village on land which is partly occupied by the disused Flower Power nursery in Ta' Qali, will include a ho- tel, full-size rugby pitch and two football pitches, five tennis courts, as well as a health club and indoor sports complex, training grounds, underground car park and retail area. Its proponents are Mediterra- nean Flower Products, owned by Australian nationals John Paul Sammut and Michael Spiteri, and a number of UK based companies. Over 400 objections have been submitted against the de- velopment. A photomontage requested by the Superintendence for Cul- tural Heritage shows the pro- ject will result in the complete elimination of the iconic view of Mdina and Mtarfa from Triq id-Durumblat. Reacting to the photomon- tages, the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage warned that the project would eradi- cate the long-standing visual relationship of Mdina with its surroundings, which is of con- siderable social historical im- portance. The Superintendence concluded that this would result in a "ma- jor loss to the cultural h e r - itage". The Superintendence warned that the change of use of an ex- tensive area from agricultural to recreational and commercial use, constituted a significant change of the cultural land- scape, and said this was consid- ered desirable. It called for the existing open agricultural areas in their present form to be pre- served without any addition of built-up structures. The Planning A u t h o r i t y ' s own advi- sory com- mittee on design issues also expressed concern on the visual impact and light pollution due to height of proposed light poles. It recommended that the pro- posed buildings should not be scattered all over the site but should be regrouped towards the Durumblat end of the site, so as to maintain the openness of the site. Although the site is outside development zones, the Ta' Qa- li Action Plan foresees a change of use of the area from agricul- ture and horticulture use, to recreational or sport purposes. But the plan bans residential, office and retail development on the site, and only allows built-up structures ancillary to the sports facilities on the north-eastern part of the site. Cultural heritage watchdog warns of major loss to cultural heritage Top: the Mdina views from a part of Attard would be obliterated by the development of the sports village at the former Flower Power complex The sports village on land which is partly occupied by the disused Flower Power nursery in Ta' Qali, will include a hotel, full-size rugby pitch and two football pitches, five tennis courts, as well as a health club and indoor sports complex, training grounds, underground car park and retail area