Sea Turtles Need to Be Protected During the Pandemic!

 

Sea turtle hatchlings on Lebanon's Al-Mansouri Beach.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced people around the world from congregating in large numbers at various public places such as beaches. One of those beaches is Al-Mansouri in Lebanon, which recently witnessed a record number of loggerhead and green sea turtles arriving to nest along the country's shores. The beach is now one of Lebanon's most important breeding sites for the turtles. Every nesting season, a local resident named Mona Khalil would count the turtles' nests with a team of volunteers. They would watch over them - protecting them from predators and people - and then help the newly-hatched turtles on their journey to the sea. According to Khalil, the last time she saw an increase in green sea turtle nests was in 2006 when Lebanon was in conflict with Israel. The beach was empty, as Israeli gunboats floated just offshore. However, back then, she had counted only nine nests. This year, twenty nests were recorded. In addition, sixteen loggerhead turtle nests were counted. Ali Badreddine, a consultant for a sea turtle conservation program endorsed by the ministry for environment, stated that his team counted larger numbers of turtle nests at several other important beaches along Lebanon's coastline. He further added that protecting the turtles and their offspring is a real challenge in the face of fishing, where they become ensnared in nets; trash discarded into the Mediterranean Sea; and uncontrollable coastal growth. Khalil has dedicated her whole life fighting these obstacles. During her time, she had risked her life standing up to the local residents who used to use dynamite to fish just off the shore. In recent years, she fought against the construction of the Palagio Beach Resort, which is situated right on Al-Mansouri. Although the area has been declared a "community-protected zone," an investigation by The Daily Star revealed that the planning permission documents had permitted only for a residential complex at the site of the resort. According to Khalil, corruption and financial interest of powerful politicians resulted in the construction of the resort. This year, however, due to the pandemic and Lebanon's economic crisis, the resort has stayed closed throughout the summer. This means mother sea turtles will have no trouble hauling out on the beach to lay their eggs in the cover of darkness. Also, baby turtles will easily make their way towards the sea guided by the light of the moon. In addition to Lebanon, other places like Phuket, Thailand saw an increase in leatherback turtle nests while Florida recorded a rise in both leatherback and loggerhead turtles. In India, thousands of newly-hatched olive ridley sea turtles were sighted on nearly empty beaches heading out to sea.

Volunteers watching over young sea turtles making their way towards the sea in Lebanon.

Although it is exciting to see endangered species like sea turtles benefiting from the global lockdown without any form of anthropogenic disturbance, one should not be fooled. I have a strong feeling that the countries where sea turtles come to nest will slowly and slowly open up for economy as time goes on. This means that sea turtles' lives will again be threatened by fishing and other anthropogenic factors. I strongly believe that waiting until the end of the pandemic is not the wise decision to conduct intensive measurements to save the turtles and ensure their survival. These animals need to be protected by any means necessary even during the pandemic. In Lebanon, sea turtles have become victims of corruption when a beach resort was built on a site which is in fact a "community-protected zone." Even though this resort is closed, I'm sure that it will open at some point in the future. This would have a negative impact on the turtles' behavior. That is, the lights from the resort can confuse the hatchlings, causing them to crawl up the beach instead of toward the sea and this would bring them into conflict with a variety of natural and unnatural obstacles. I strongly urge the people of Lebanon to take necessary measurements to ensure the protection and conservation of sea turtles in the country, including protesting against construction of beach resorts on beach strips identified as sea turtle nesting sites. Other sea turtle countries should also follow suit.

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