Nature Trust - FEE Malta has described this year's loggerhead turtle nesting season as "very unusual", after Malta recorded 11 nesting attempts but not a single confirmed nest so far this summer.

Nature Trust - FEE Malta, together with the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA), monitors loggerhead turtle nesting activity on Maltese beaches and works to protect nests when they are discovered.

The absence of nests this year marks a stark contrast with the 2025 nesting season, when six loggerhead turtle nests were recorded across Malta and Gozo, producing a combined 319 hatchlings.

Loggerhead turtles have also nested on Maltese beaches in successive years before 2025, making a season with 11 "false crawls" but no confirmed nests particularly notable.

The situation in Malta contrasts with other parts of the Mediterranean, including Italy, where the nesting season was also initially slow to kick off.

By around 8 August, however, provisional figures showed a total of 280 loggerhead turtle nests along the Italian peninsula, almost half of which - 129 - were in Sicily alone.

Nature Trust - FEE Malta President Vincent Attard told The Malta Independent that Malta had instead recorded only "false crawls", which occur when a turtle comes ashore but ultimately leaves without nesting.

"This year we had no nests in the Maltese Islands, only around 11 false crawls - which means that the turtle came up to the nest, but then decided not to nest and leaves. Usually, when this happens, the turtle finds other spots to nest or eventually dumps the eggs at sea," Attard said.

"It was a strange year and some countries also reported more false crawls than usual, but in the end, they had nests too."

He said Greece, Turkey and Cyprus continued to attract eco-tourists who travel to volunteer in nest monitoring, describing this as a growing form of quality tourism from which Greece and Turkey were benefiting.

Attard said the lack of successful nests in Malta was particularly unusual given the number of turtles which had attempted to come ashore.

"Very unusual, because if each of the false crawls had become nests, it would have been a record year for nests for the Maltese Islands," he said.

He said some experts were partly attributing the phenomenon to climate change, pointing towards unusual conditions experienced across the Central Mediterranean this year.

"This year, the Central Mediterranean had a strange heat wave. Many fires across the Mediterranean countries have been reported. High temperatures make fish move out and turtles also tend to follow these feeding areas. Scientists and turtle experts are still observing this new behaviour and trying to find solutions," Attard said.

However, Attard said Malta also faced particular challenges because of the nature and use of its beaches.

"One must also add that the Maltese islands are small Islands with pocket beaches, some of which are overcrowded in summer and have beach concessions. This further hinders turtles in feeling comfortable to nest. Light pollution is another factor."

He pointed towards false crawls at St Thomas Bay, Balluta and Armier, saying these had also occurred on beaches turtles would not realistically be expected to choose for nesting because of light pollution, the size of the beach or noise.

Attard said he had discussed this summer's unusual activity with experts from Greece, Turkey and Tunisia.

"For sure, climate change is a factor, however in our case, there are other factors. Our beaches are becoming 24-hour beaches in some cases, and human disturbance is the order of the day, like the Balluta issue or the deck chairs in the Armier case. We do not have the luxury Turkey and Greece have anymore, where some beaches are protected at night."

"Sicily too had its share of false crawls but had nests in the end, even in southern Sicily. It is only Malta that had only false crawls this year," he said.

Asked about the incident at Armier Bay, where a turtle reportedly abandoned a nesting attempt after encountering sunbeds, Attard raised concerns about enforcement.

"First, and I stand to be corrected, it is illegal to leave sunbeds on the beach. This is a matter for the authorities to ensure law enforcement. In fact, lack of law enforcement on environmental issues is very common in Malta - e.g. dumping in valleys and the countryside."

He said Nature Trust had repeatedly cleaned areas only to find them littered again weeks later, while also pointing towards dumping at sea.

"Dumping at sea is another major issue. An NGO removed two tonnes of waste this week and that is something we should all worry about," Attard said.

Attard nevertheless praised ERA inspectors for their support whenever nests were discovered and thanked Nature Trust - FEE Malta's volunteers.

"I must thank the hundreds of volunteers of Nature Trust FEE Malta who stay with the nest when found, who patrol the beaches every night and early morning for turtle signs, who help in the rescue of injured turtles, and our Turtle coordinators for making this happen during the nesting season each year since 2012," he said.

Attard said this amounted to hundreds of hours of voluntary work to protect a marine animal facing threats, including bycatch, boat strikes and plastic pollution, through either swallowing plastic or becoming entangled in it.

Despite no nests having been recorded so far, Attard said there remained a possibility of one being discovered before the season ends.

"We are in the last phase of this possibility, and we will keep up the monitoring till around end of August as always. In line with nest recordings around the Mediterranean, they usually nest from May to August."

Late nests, however, bring additional challenges as the first storms normally arrive in September, potentially drowning and killing eggs through strong winds and waves.

"We are always following scientific advice from experts on how to mitigate such natural forces, and last year, we also took on new methods recommended by international experts that helped us save even more turtles, which successfully hatched. Science is very important is such operations."

Attard also appealed to members of the public to avoid disturbing any turtle spotted coming ashore.

"It is important that nobody disturbs a turtle when one is seen either coming up to the beach, or on the beach. People must not go in front of it speaking loudly or flashing lights on it, but must simply stay away and keep others away," he said.

People should immediately call the Wildlife Rescue Line on 9999 9505 or ERA and remain quiet until assistance arrives.

If the turtle leaves, Attard said people should stay away from the area where a nest may have been laid, because compacting the sand could be harmful.

He also urged beachgoers to fill in holes and remove sandcastles before leaving the beach.

"Another important factor is that one must keep in mind that turtles are graceful in water but once on land, their weight is too heavy. Finding obstacles on the beach such as holes or sandcastles, or any other structures, can slow them down, get them hurt, or they might decide to abandon the nesting process," he said.

Attard appealed to all beachgoers during the day to leave the beach in its natural state and cover all holes they or their children made.

"We have to keep in mind that turtles have been on this planet before us humans, for 200 million years. Now, because of human activity, they are endangered at IUCN level," Attard said.

Questions have been sent to the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA).