Bring on the turtles

Abstract

It takes a momentous event – a loggerhead turtle laying its eggs on a local beach – to drive some sense into local authorities and oblige them to take the bull by the horns, for once. For instance, the six-month conservation order recently issued for Ġnejna Bay prohibits a number of actions on the beach, including the playing of loud music and parking of vehicles, which in civilised countries would normally be associated with people lacking education and manners. The mind boggles... why weren’t such measures enforced earlier? Is it acceptable to have people shattering the peace and quiet with music thumping away from big speakers lodged on trucks, as regularly happens during barbecues held on the rocky peninsula at Ġnejna, as long as there are no turtles nesting on the beach?