LIFE+ MIGRATE was launched in October 2012 with the goal of implementing parts of the European Union’s Habitat Directive (92/43/EEC) with regards to establishing the conservation status of the loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) and the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) in Maltese waters and establishing an important zones for them. The Project is coordinated by the Maltese Environment Planning Authority (MEPA), as the lead beneficiary, with KAI Marine and the Ministry for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate Change (MSDEC) as partners and Bank of Valletta (BOV) as a cofinancier. KAI Marine is an international interdisciplinary team of experts in the design of management schemes for the conservation of great pelagic marine species. The outcome of one of the actions under the LIFE+ MIGRATE is a series of guidelines for the adequate management of the potential risks to the maintenance of a favourable conservation status of the cetacean and sea turtle populations present in Maltese waters. Among these guidelines, that are based on a solid scientific foundation, is the identification of potential sites that should be included in Europe’s network of protected areas, NATURA 2000.
For more information please visit: WWW.LIFEPROJECTMIGRATE.COM WWW.MARINENATURA2000MALTA.COM
PROJ ECT MIGRATE - LIFE11 NAT//MT/1070 EU LIFE+ Funding Programme This project is part-financed by the European Union Co-financing rate: 49.4 % EU Funds; 37.1 % National Funds and 13.5 % Private funds
booklet 4_
MALTA – Divers, Stewardship of NATURA2000 – LIFE+ MIGRATE
Tourism_
Front page map: “Satelite image of Malta”. Licenced under the Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Satelite_image_of_Malta.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Satelite_image_of_Malta.jpg
Natura 2000 sites
LIFE MIGRATE+
Europe’s main contribution to the Convention for Biological Diversity is the Habitats Directive and its NATURA 2000 network of sites that are critical for the breeding, feeding and migration of species that require special effort of conservation.
Nobody understands better than a diver, how important it is for dolphins and sea turtles to enjoy a clean, silent and plastic-free underwater world.
neritic
LIFE MIGRATE+_
LIFE MIGRATE+_
<land
pelagic
LOGGERHEAD TURTLE
The LOGGERHEAD TURTLE (Caretta caretta; Maltese: Il-Fekruna tal-Baħar) is the most common sea turtle, and is listed in Annex II & Annex IV of the Habitat Directive. Loggerheads found in Maltese waters can possibly be of both Mediterranean and Atlantic origin (from the nesting beaches of the eastern shores of the Atlantic.
LAMPUKI
BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN
During their sub adult life stage, turtles gain the ability to swim against the ocean currents, and at this point they can alternate the open sea phase with a coastal phase, where they approach the coast to feed on crustaceans and other demersal prey. At this point, turtles migrate back to the nesting beaches where they were born, in order to initiate their reproductive cycle at maturity around 24-30 years of age. At this stage, the female will nest in cycles of 2, 3 or 4 years, emerging on the beach to dig a boot shaped nest in the sand where she will lay around 100 eggs.
BLUE SHARKS AND OTHER PREDATORY FISH
OTHER CETACEANS
Other species of sea turtle and cetacean can also be found around Maltese waters, as the green turtle, the striped dolphin, the Risso’s dolphin, the long finned pilot whale, the beaked whale, the fin whale and the sperm whale. Among these species, it is important to highlight the Mediterranean common dolphin.
seamount
COMMON DOLPHIN
4000m abyssal
upwelling of nutrients epipelagic 200m zoning
continental slope
PHYSIOGRAPHY plays a key role in the lives of cetaceans and sea turtles. Features such as sea mounts or escarpments are landmarks for navigation, but also aggregate prey either directly by offering a habitat for benthic and demersal species or indirectly by inducing upwellings. Different cetaceans have different preferences for either the continental shelves or slope or deep waters. BOTTLENOSE DOLPHINS feeding on demersal fish or loggerhead turtles feeding on benthic invertebrates during their oceanic phase can be observed frequently on the continental shelf or along its edge. LOGGERHEAD TURTLES in their oceanic phase are generally found off the shelf edge in deeper waters. Likewise other cetacean species, an in particular odontocetes, are found offshore tracking deep sea squid. If we sail these deep waters using an echosounder, we can often observe what we call the deep scattering layer between 200 meters to over 1000. This is a layer that aggregates a mass of creatures as jellies and also several deep sea squid species that make up the most important part of the diet of odontocetes in the oceanic domain.
bathypelagic
zoning
Drifting around in surface waters, these turtles act as thousands of small oasis in the open seas. Aggregating algae, a mass of invertebrates and a cloud of small pelagic fish under their shade, turtles provide bait balls for hungry pelagic predators. Turtles themselves will feed on a variety of pelagic invertebrates including jellyfish.
The BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN (Tursiops truncatus; Maltese: Id-Denfil ta’ Geddumu Qasir) is one of the more coastal dolphin species in European waters. This cosmopolitan species is found as an offshore sub species and a coastal subspecies. Around Malta bottlenose dolphins are found regularly in small pods foraging on demersal prey along the continental shelf edge but also taking advantage of fishing gear and fish farms to obtain an easy meal.
THE OCEANIC REALM Marine ecosystems are difficult for us to visualize, unlike habitats on land that are easy for people to make reference to. In appearance, this is just an endless blue surface, but underneath that surface there are extraordinary physiographic and oceanographic features. Think of water flows larger than the Amazon, or escarpments far deeper than the famous Grand Canyon.
BLUEFIN TUNA
Emerging from the sand after an average of a 60-day incubation under the sun, hatchlings race out to the open seas where they enter the first phase of their extraordinary life cycle. During this open sea phase, turtles are transported by surface currents agrregating with other current-driven organisms, like jellies, and will spend several years throughout their juvenile years until they become sub adults.
continental shelf
25 n.m.
Other OCEANOGRAPHIC FEATURES as currents, frontal zones, down-wellings, and up-wellings play also a key role in aggregating the prey of cetaceans and aggregating and / or dispersing turtles migrating passively during their oceanic phase. Temperature on the other hand plays a crucial role with regards to sea turtles, that as reptiles see their metabolic rate affected by waters much warmer or colder than their preferred 18 degrees C.
mesopelagic 1000m zoning
THE BLUE SERENGETI
Malta’s position in the channel between the Western and Eastern Mediterranean basins makes it a site of particular interest for the great pelagic wonderers of our seas. Lampuki/dolphin fish, swordfish, bluefin tunas, sharks, cetaceans and marine turtles as well as seabirds probably use these islands’s waters and as landmark for their migrations.
Editorial design and illustration: GOBIUS 2015 www.gobius.pt
SEABIRDS
SITES OF SPECIAL RELEVANCE AROUND THE ISLANDS OF MALTA AND GOZO The Maltese Islands consists of a group of 3 islands with Malta being the largest, situated at the southern tip of the continental shelf of Sicily. To the east from these islands, there is a steep escarpment that plunges to the abyss of the Ionian where the Mediterranean reaches its record depth of over 4,000 meters. Malta also designated a 25 nautical mile Fisheries Management Zone, where the deepest waters are found to the south west and north west of the archipelago.
Factsheet_
TOURISM IN MALTA Worldwide tourism, with over 11 million international travellers, represents 9% of global economy and 1% jobs. In Malta, tourism sector is also one of the main drivers of the national economy. In 2011 the number of tourists visiting Malta was 1,411,747 (Tourism policy for the Maltese Islands, 2012-2016). Tourism accounts directly for 10% of Maltese Gross National Product, 14% of government income, 10% of employment and 6% on imports and outflows. When other indirect impacts are taken into account, these figures increase to 29% of GNP, 33% of government income, 29% of employment and 16% of imports and outflows (Tourism policy for the Maltese Islands, 2012-2016).
In relation to marine biodiversity, several activities of tourism stand out as being of special relevance: nature tours, mainly whale watching activities, yachting, sport fishing, the national aquarium, diving and beach tourism. Dolphin watching is an activity that is not well-developed in Malta. Nevertheless, it could potentially be developed in the near future as an eco-tourism activity. Yachting is an intense activity in the eastern side of the Maltese Islands, between Malta and Gozo and around Gozo Island. Yachters should be made increasingly aware that deliberate disturbance of dolphins is not allowed, to reduce episodes linked with the chasing of sighted dolphins with speedboats.
as non-commercial vessels, that is, recreational. These cannot practice any professional fishing operations and can only use minor fishing gear,. A fishing licence is issued to each recreational vessel in line with the Fishing Vessels Regulation. The Malta National Aquarium, located at Qawra in the northeast of the island, is one of important tourist attractions in Malta. The public aquarium has 26 display tanks with, amongst others, Mediterranean fish, including fish commonly found in Maltese waters together with replicas of historical artefacts that one can find in the seas around the Maltese Islands.
TOURISM, CETACEANS AND MARINE TURTLES Tourism is one of the main human activities directly affecting the conservation of cetaceans and marine turtles and more generally the marine environment. Mass tourism along the Maltese coast creates several problems for the marine environment.
Dolphin watching can have negative effects on cetaceans. Some studies have shown how human presence affects different animals, demonstrating that they can be intimidated when there are closely approached, but that they can tolerate, and even habituate to human activities if they are easy to anticipate. Recreational diving is a popular activity for tourists in Malta. In 2010 around 57,000 diving tourists were recorded in the Maltese Islands (Tourism policy for the Maltese Islands, 20122016). Interesting dive sites include the Blue Hole at Dwejra (Gozo).
Finally, the beaches are some of the major attractions of the Maltese Islands for tourists, many of them are Blue Flag beaches ensuring that they are managed in an environmentally sustainable manner.
Recreational navigation should not in principle constitute a threat to cetaceans and turtles and their habitats. Observations at sea show, however, that irresponsible behaviour may be a risk for cetaceans, turtles and the marine environment and for navigation in general (e.g. anchorage in sea grass beds of phanerogams, spills or garbage thrown into the sea, ship strikes and persecution of cetaceans with jet-skis and speed boats). Harassment can produce alterations in the behaviour of the animals, stress and exclusion from the area if disturbance is persistent. Tourism activities exhibiting and offering interaction experiences with animals such as the aquarium could have a negative impact on animal protection and welfare. . Diving can result in negative impacts on the marine environment if it is not conducted in a responsible and sustainable way. Bad practices include anchorage in vulnerable habitats, harassment and harm to the species, collection of organisms and feeding animals.
Recreational fishing in Malta is important in terms of use of maritime waters. This segment comprises vessels that are registered in the national fishing fleet register and are classified
www.marinenatura2000malta.com
Factsheet_ Pollution of water by toxic substances, hydrocarbons and debris are common to all sectors. The risk of inadequate waste water treatment and waste management, and in particular the disposal at sea of plastic waste, discarded or lost fishing gear and hydrocarbon fuels and lubricants can all be attributed also to the tourism sector and can have potentially important effects on cetacean and turtles health.
RISK MITIGATION MEASURES For most potential risks, prevention and mitigation measures exist. For others, the collaboration between the regulatory frameworks and authorities, the tourism sector and scientists, is developing and testing new technological measures that can make social and economic growth compatible with the conservation of marine biodiversity. HARASSMENT Protection of marine turtles and cetaceans is of paramount importance due to conservation concern. This protection could be realised through the enactment of legislative instruments or through establishment of voluntary guidelines and best practice techniques to address specifically the code of conduct for the correct approach to cetaceans and marine turtles based on the development of non-intrusive activities, avoiding bothering or harming the animals, establishing a maximum approach distance, making the correct manoeuvre without harassing the animals, and not crowding boats together. SHIP STRIKES Speed limitation in vicinity of cetaceans and marine turtles.
UNCONTROLLED SPORTS FISHING There is a need to address this issue in order to ensure the competitiveness of responsible fishers. SPORT FISHING, YACHTING AND OPPORTUNISTIC FEEDING OF DOLPHINS AROUND FISH-FARMS: The opportunistic feeding of dolphins around fish-farms requires the establishment of preventive measures. NOISE POLLUTION Engines, propellers, and hull noise can be greatly reduced by good maintenance and optimisation of technological measures that not only mitigate risk of noise pollution but also increase cost-efficiency of the vessel. DEBRIS POLLUTION Appropriate waste management in accordance with international regulations is critical to avoid the accumulation at sea of debris. Debris pollution in the oceans has become a global problem that can even cause damage to yachts in gyres of mass accumulation of macro plastics. Reporting of areas of debris accumulation is important for the establishment of mitigation measures. Diving centres and yachts can also constitute an important platform of opportunity for the removal of debris at aggregation sites. TOXIC POLLUTION Appropriate management of grey and black waters, fuels, lubricants and bilge water in accordance with international regulations is critical to avoid the accumulation of hydrocarbons in the seas. Reporting of areas of hydrocarbon accumulation is important for the establishment of mitigation measures Avoiding discharges of untreated wastewater at sea in accordance with European legislation is the key to reduce water pollution.
NESTING OF MARINE TURTLES There is only one recent record of a turtlenesting attempt in Maltese waters. However, nesting attempts are possible and should be accounted for. AWARENESS AND EDUCATION The tourism sector has a great potential for awareness and education about conservation of marine biodiversity. There is a need to launch awareness raising campaigns and education activities to protect marine environment.
TOURISTS, DIVERS AND YACHTSMEN AND THE STEWARDSHIP OF OUR SEAS Tourists, divers and yachtsmen can play an important role in the stewardship of our oceans. They can contribute to the surveillance of illegal activities and offer a unique platform of opportunity to conduct debris pollution removal and collect scientific data for the monitoring of ocean ecosystems. Participation and collaboration in research targeting ecosystem based management as with pollution contingency plans, contributing to platforms of ocean observation and forecasting.
Assisting sea turtles entangled or hooked is an important contribution to conservation. In such circumstances it is best to contact the relevant environment institutions: Nature Trust (Malta) PO Box 9, Valletta. VLT 1000 MALTA E-mail: info@naturetrustmalta.org Phone Number: (+356) 21313150
REFERENCE DOCUMENTS, MATERIALS AND LINKS: www.marinenatura2000malta.com . ABTA (2013). Animal welfare minimum requirements, Global Welfare Guidance for Animals in Tourism. . ACCOBAMS & RAC/SPA. 2004. Guidelines for Commercial Cetacean-Watching Activities in the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea and Contiguous Atlantic Area. Edit RAC/SPA & ACCOBAMS, Tunis, 30 pp. . ACCOBAMS Guidelines for the release of captive cetaceans into the wild. . Guidelines for commercial cetacean-watching in the ACCOBAMS area. . REAL DECRETO 1727/2007, de 21 de diciembre, por el que se establecen medidas de protecciรณn de los cetรกceos.
www.marinenatura2000malta.com
neritic
LIFE MIGRATE+_
LIFE MIGRATE+_
<land
pelagic
LOGGERHEAD TURTLE
The LOGGERHEAD TURTLE (Caretta caretta; Maltese: Il-Fekruna tal-Baħar) is the most common sea turtle, and is listed in Annex II & Annex IV of the Habitat Directive. Loggerheads found in Maltese waters can possibly be of both Mediterranean and Atlantic origin (from the nesting beaches of the eastern shores of the Atlantic.
LAMPUKI
BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN
During their sub adult life stage, turtles gain the ability to swim against the ocean currents, and at this point they can alternate the open sea phase with a coastal phase, where they approach the coast to feed on crustaceans and other demersal prey. At this point, turtles migrate back to the nesting beaches where they were born, in order to initiate their reproductive cycle at maturity around 24-30 years of age. At this stage, the female will nest in cycles of 2, 3 or 4 years, emerging on the beach to dig a boot shaped nest in the sand where she will lay around 100 eggs.
BLUE SHARKS AND OTHER PREDATORY FISH
OTHER CETACEANS
Other species of sea turtle and cetacean can also be found around Maltese waters, as the green turtle, the striped dolphin, the Risso’s dolphin, the long finned pilot whale, the beaked whale, the fin whale and the sperm whale. Among these species, it is important to highlight the Mediterranean common dolphin.
seamount
COMMON DOLPHIN
4000m abyssal
upwelling of nutrients epipelagic 200m zoning
continental slope
PHYSIOGRAPHY plays a key role in the lives of cetaceans and sea turtles. Features such as sea mounts or escarpments are landmarks for navigation, but also aggregate prey either directly by offering a habitat for benthic and demersal species or indirectly by inducing upwellings. Different cetaceans have different preferences for either the continental shelves or slope or deep waters. BOTTLENOSE DOLPHINS feeding on demersal fish or loggerhead turtles feeding on benthic invertebrates during their oceanic phase can be observed frequently on the continental shelf or along its edge. LOGGERHEAD TURTLES in their oceanic phase are generally found off the shelf edge in deeper waters. Likewise other cetacean species, an in particular odontocetes, are found offshore tracking deep sea squid. If we sail these deep waters using an echosounder, we can often observe what we call the deep scattering layer between 200 meters to over 1000. This is a layer that aggregates a mass of creatures as jellies and also several deep sea squid species that make up the most important part of the diet of odontocetes in the oceanic domain.
bathypelagic
zoning
Drifting around in surface waters, these turtles act as thousands of small oasis in the open seas. Aggregating algae, a mass of invertebrates and a cloud of small pelagic fish under their shade, turtles provide bait balls for hungry pelagic predators. Turtles themselves will feed on a variety of pelagic invertebrates including jellyfish.
The BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN (Tursiops truncatus; Maltese: Id-Denfil ta’ Geddumu Qasir) is one of the more coastal dolphin species in European waters. This cosmopolitan species is found as an offshore sub species and a coastal subspecies. Around Malta bottlenose dolphins are found regularly in small pods foraging on demersal prey along the continental shelf edge but also taking advantage of fishing gear and fish farms to obtain an easy meal.
THE OCEANIC REALM Marine ecosystems are difficult for us to visualize, unlike habitats on land that are easy for people to make reference to. In appearance, this is just an endless blue surface, but underneath that surface there are extraordinary physiographic and oceanographic features. Think of water flows larger than the Amazon, or escarpments far deeper than the famous Grand Canyon.
BLUEFIN TUNA
Emerging from the sand after an average of a 60-day incubation under the sun, hatchlings race out to the open seas where they enter the first phase of their extraordinary life cycle. During this open sea phase, turtles are transported by surface currents agrregating with other current-driven organisms, like jellies, and will spend several years throughout their juvenile years until they become sub adults.
continental shelf
25 n.m.
Other OCEANOGRAPHIC FEATURES as currents, frontal zones, down-wellings, and up-wellings play also a key role in aggregating the prey of cetaceans and aggregating and / or dispersing turtles migrating passively during their oceanic phase. Temperature on the other hand plays a crucial role with regards to sea turtles, that as reptiles see their metabolic rate affected by waters much warmer or colder than their preferred 18 degrees C.
mesopelagic 1000m zoning
THE BLUE SERENGETI
Malta’s position in the channel between the Western and Eastern Mediterranean basins makes it a site of particular interest for the great pelagic wonderers of our seas. Lampuki/dolphin fish, swordfish, bluefin tunas, sharks, cetaceans and marine turtles as well as seabirds probably use these islands’s waters and as landmark for their migrations.
Editorial design and illustration: GOBIUS 2015 www.gobius.pt
SEABIRDS
SITES OF SPECIAL RELEVANCE AROUND THE ISLANDS OF MALTA AND GOZO The Maltese Islands consists of a group of 3 islands with Malta being the largest, situated at the southern tip of the continental shelf of Sicily. To the east from these islands, there is a steep escarpment that plunges to the abyss of the Ionian where the Mediterranean reaches its record depth of over 4,000 meters. Malta also designated a 25 nautical mile Fisheries Management Zone, where the deepest waters are found to the south west and north west of the archipelago.
LIFE+ MIGRATE was launched in October 2012 with the goal of implementing parts of the European Union’s Habitat Directive (92/43/EEC) with regards to establishing the conservation status of the loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) and the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) in Maltese waters and establishing an important zones for them. The Project is coordinated by the Maltese Environment Planning Authority (MEPA), as the lead beneficiary, with KAI Marine and the Ministry for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate Change (MSDEC) as partners and Bank of Valletta (BOV) as a cofinancier. KAI Marine is an international interdisciplinary team of experts in the design of management schemes for the conservation of great pelagic marine species. The outcome of one of the actions under the LIFE+ MIGRATE is a series of guidelines for the adequate management of the potential risks to the maintenance of a favourable conservation status of the cetacean and sea turtle populations present in Maltese waters. Among these guidelines, that are based on a solid scientific foundation, is the identification of potential sites that should be included in Europe’s network of protected areas, NATURA 2000.
For more information please visit: WWW.LIFEPROJECTMIGRATE.COM WWW.MARINENATURA2000MALTA.COM
PROJ ECT MIGRATE - LIFE11 NAT//MT/1070 EU LIFE+ Funding Programme This project is part-financed by the European Union Co-financing rate: 49.4 % EU Funds; 37.1 % National Funds and 13.5 % Private funds
booklet 4_
MALTA – Divers, Stewardship of NATURA2000 – LIFE+ MIGRATE
Tourism_
Front page map: “Satelite image of Malta”. Licenced under the Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Satelite_image_of_Malta.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Satelite_image_of_Malta.jpg
Natura 2000 sites
LIFE MIGRATE+
Europe’s main contribution to the Convention for Biological Diversity is the Habitats Directive and its NATURA 2000 network of sites that are critical for the breeding, feeding and migration of species that require special effort of conservation.
Nobody understands better than a diver, how important it is for dolphins and sea turtles to enjoy a clean, silent and plastic-free underwater world.