After 100 turtles successfully hatched at Ġnejna Bay last week, Nature Trust is planning further studies of the nest to learn more about the creatures and guide future conservation efforts.

Scientists are also exploring whether the phenomenon is becoming more common, with two successful hatchings in three years after decades in which none were reported.

Nature Trust CEO Vince Attard told the Times of Malta the Ġnejna nest would be excavated in the coming days to find out how many eggs had been laid and the success rate of the nest.

Watch: 100 turtles hatch at Ġnejna, right on cue

“We will be able to see how many other eggs didn’t hatch, and if any hatchlings didn’t make it out we’ll be able to get an idea of what went wrong,” Mr Attard said.

Nature Trust is also seeking permission from the authorities to take DNA samples from the eggs, which will allow scientists to establish if the same turtle has been returning to nest and identify any dead hatchlings found in Maltese waters. Indications so far are that last week’s hatching had a high success rate, with 100 hatchlings making it out to sea.

Turtles typically look for beaches that are dark and deserted. Such beaches are hard to find in Malta, but the phenomenon does seem to be increasing

Female loggerhead turtles typically lay between 80 and 120 eggs at each nesting, making three to six nests every season. The turtles eventually return to the beaches where they were born to lay their own eggs.

At the last nesting two years ago, 71 turtles hatched at Golden Bay after 56 days of incubation. Later investigations revealed that 85 eggs had been laid in total, the rest having failed to hatch.

Before that, the last recorded nesting was at Ġnejna in 2012, but the eggs failed to hatch, with environmental authorities concluding they had become waterlogged due to the underlying blue clay.

Could Malta see more in the coming years? Mr Attard said there was some evidence that turtles were changing their nesting patterns, with nests reported in places like Jordan and Naples, where they had never been seen before.

“Scientists are still looking into what may be happening,” Mr Attard said.

“It could be that their usual habitats have been destroyed by development or climate change, pushing them to seek out new beaches.

“Turtles typically look for beaches that are dark and deserted. Such beaches are hard to find in Malta, but the phenomenon does seem to be increasing,” he noted.