On Friday 21st May, a number of Loggerhead Turtles were released from the rehabilitation centre where they have been cared for recently. Turtles arrive there for lots of reasons; sometimes they are accidentally caught in fishermans nets, sometimes they are injured as a result of predators, sometimes they are washed ashore and cannot get back into the water. The centre, which is related to Nature Trust (Malta) cares for these creatures, then returns them to the wild where hopefully they will thrive.

Malta suffers from a lack of these creatures and some say this is one of the main reasons we get so many jelly fish - jelly fish are a favourite of the turtles who do not suffer from the stings inflicted. The other reason we have so many jelly fish is that the Maltese have not figured out a way to cook and eat them yet!

Here is a brief report from a previous release:

Eleven turtles were released back to the sea this morning after having been rehabilitated from injuries they suffered when they were caught by fishermen.

Injured turtles are rehabilitated in a facility at San Lucjan Tower in Marsaxlokk operated by the Resources Ministry. The facility was recently augmented with an X-Ray machine donated by the Health Department.

Among the turtles released back into the sea was one that had been taken to San Lucjan when still young and in poor condition, having been injured by a harpoon. It could not swim or even eat on its own, but it has since recovered and grown to over 50 kilos.

The turtles were released at Golden Bay in the presence of pupils from eco-skola and Resources Minister George Pullicino. Some of the children carried placards urging people not to dump plastic bags in the sea - the turtles swallow them and suffocate after mistaking them for jellyfish.