Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1546262
7 gozotoday | FRIDAY • 21 AUGUST 2026 NEWS Deidun warns the situation should 'isolated Maltese phenomenon' three plausible factors: human disturbance, changes to Medi- terranean surface currents and rising sand temperatures. Human pressure The first factor is the intensi- ty of human activity on Malta's beaches. "Our beaches are over- crowded," Deidun said, point- ing to noise, artificial lighting and increasing numbers of boats as potential obstacles for nesting turtles. A turtle approaching a beach has to navigate its way through boats moored offshore before even reaching the shoreline, he said. Malta also lacks a beach spe- cifically cordoned off for turtle nesting, Deidun said. He contrasted this with Lampedusa's Spiaggia dei Co- nigli, or Rabbit Beach, where people are still allowed to use the beach but restrictions are imposed to create conditions in which turtles can nest. There are no kiosks, artificial lights or music on the beach, he said. "At least, even though people can use the beach, turtles can still nest there," he said, de- scribing it as a form of coexist- ence. He added that in Malta, this sort of thing doesn't exist, "at least so far." Nature Trust has previously documented the consequences of human disturbance. In July, the organisation said a turtle attempting to nest at Balluta Bay was confronted by people talking loudly and using phone flashes, causing the animal to turn around and return to the sea. Nature Trust also report- ed that another turtle had at- tempted to reach the sand at Armier but turned back after being unable to crawl up the beach because sunbeds were blocking its path. A Mediterranean under heat stress Deidun's second concern is the warming of the Mediterra- nean and the resulting changes to surface currents. Sea turtles travelling long dis- tances exploit surface currents to reduce the energy they need to expend, he explained. But as the sea warms, those currents can change. "Surface currents are pushing things in different directions than they used to," he said. The issue comes against a backdrop of exceptional marine heat this year. A study report- ed by The Guardian this week found a dramatic expansion of marine heatwaves across Eu- ropean waters, with sea sur- face temperatures in some areas up to 6C above normal. Researchers estimated that cli- mate change was responsible for roughly two-thirds of the excess heat observed. Global sea surface tempera- tures also reached their highest level ever recorded for July this year, according to data from the EU's Copernicus climate monitoring service, with severe marine heatwaves affecting the western Mediterranean. For Deidun, the implications extend far beyond turtles. "Climate change is wreaking havoc with everything we know, with what we've witnessed so far," he said. "It is the major driver of processes in nature." He said temperature is a ma- jor factor in determining where migratory species move, wheth- er fish, turtles or birds. "When you have things which are mi- grating and they do not have a fixed location, this is not like a grouper, which is sort of terri- torial and sticks to its patch," he said. "Species change their migration patterns depending on where they have the food, where they're finding food, and temperature is a major driver." The sand could also be working against turtles A third possible factor is the temperature of the sand itself. With Malta experiencing in- tense summer heat, Deidun said turtles could be looking for beaches elsewhere where the sand is cooler and therefore more suitable for nesting, but hotter sand has another impor- tant consequence. The temperature at which turtle eggs develop affects the sex ratio of hatchlings, with warmer conditions producing a greater proportion of females. Deidun said the higher tem- peratures closer to the surface mean that eggs positioned higher in a nest are more likely to develop into females, while cooler conditions deeper in the nest favour males. The issue is therefore not sim- ply whether a turtle succeeds in laying eggs this summer, but whether increasingly hot nest- ing conditions could affect tur- tle populations over the longer term. Where have the jellyfish gone? The changing marine environ- ment is already being noticed in other ways around Malta. Deidun said the mauve stinger jellyfish has failed to appear for the second consecutive year. He said discussions with Ital- ian colleagues suggested the jellyfish could be remaining in deeper waters to avoid the ex- treme temperatures closer to the surface. "They're sticking to deep wa- ters and not rising to the sur- face to avoid being damaged by the warm waters," he said. The absence of the mauve stinger is another example of how marine species can re- spond to rapidly changing con- ditions, although, as with the turtle nesting decline, Deidun stressed that the precise causes require further research. For Malta's turtles, mean- while, this year's empty nests mark a sharp contrast with re- cent seasons. Nature Trust previously re- corded six nests in 2025 and eight in 2024, while the organ- isation has noted that turtle nesting naturally varies be- tween slow and peak years. But this year has been differ- ent enough to raise concerns. Nature Trust said the season had shown that Malta "cannot take anything for granted", not- ing that the fact that there has been at least one nest every year does not mean this is guaran- teed to continue. Deidun's assessment is simi- larly cautious. The turtles are still in the Mediterranean and they are still reaching Malta's shores, but as the sea heats up, currents shift, beaches become busier and sand temperatures rise, the conditions waiting for them on land may be becoming increasingly difficult. And Malta, he warned, is not experiencing this alone. "In this part of the Mediterranean, in the central Mediterranean, nesting is down all over the place," Deidun said Several attempts were made over the summer by turtles but none were successful (Photo: Nature Trust Malta)