Fifty-seven turtles have hatched from a second, previously undiscovered turtle nest at Ramla Bay in Gozo, Nature Trust have said.
The nest was laid by a turtle which was seen rising to shore months ago. Volunteers had searched for the nest but were unable to find it, meaning it was not shielded or protected until the eggs hatched.
It was dug up this week under the supervision of experts and Environment and Resource Authority officials.
They found that 57 eggs had hatched while 44 had not – a 57 per cent success rate.
“It is not known if the 57 all made it to sea as this nest was unrecorded as some might have fallen victims to ghost crabs,” Nature Trust said.
By contrast, another turtle nest at the Gozitan beach this summer which was given round-the-clock protection by Nature Trust and ERA led to a far higher 81 per cent successful hatching rate. Sixty-two turtles hatched from that nest.
Last week, Nature Trust said that it had discovered the trampled remains of another undiscovered turtle nest in Marsascala. Turtle hatchlings which had hatched from that nest were found dead and buried under compacted sand.