Involvement of institutions and local communities in turtles and cetacean monitoring and conservation in Maltese waters through networking

Abstract

The loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) and the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) are regularly found around Maltese waters, especially the former. However, until recently, information on the populations and conservation status of both species in the area was lacking. The EU LIFE+ project MIGRATE (LIFE11 NAT/MT/1070) was carried out to address these information gaps by aiming to obtain more biotic data on these species and to identify areas essential for the life cycle and reproduction of these protected species in Maltese waters. To achieve these aims, amongst others, a citizen science approach was chosen, with the involvement of a number of institutes like the Maritime Squadron of the Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) and that of the Civil Protection Department (CPD) as well as local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other sea-user communities such as divers.