Muscat – The Environment Authority (EA) removed around 70 tonnes of marine debris from turtle beaches in South Sharqiyah in 2022.

The authority conducted turtle surveys for 30 weeks, rescued nine loggerhead turtles and removed 70 tonnes of marine debris from turtle beaches last year, EA said.

The authority organised several campaigns and programmes to preserve the beaches in the governorate, which are famous for turtle nesting. It also continues to introduce new measures to protect sea turtles, which reach Oman shores every year to nest.

EA in November last year recorded the return of a green turtle, which had been tagged with tracker in 2001.

‘After 20 years, the green turtle returned to the shores of Ras al Jinz in Oman’, EA said in a statement. ‘In November 2001, Environment Authority specialists recorded 45,470 green turtles reaching the shores of Oman’.

Additionally, in June 2022, the authority announced that another green turtle with a tracking device returned to nest in the Ras al Hadd Turtle Reserve in South Sharqiyah after 31 years.

The authority in November launched the second phase of a project to track turtles via satellites.

The project aims to enhance information to study the nesting behaviour and natural habitat of sea turtles. Five tracking devices were installed on the turtles in the Ras al Jinz area to monitor threats during their migration and the environmental risks to the creatures and their natural habitat.

The project will track a number of green turtles in Ras al Hadd reserve and combine local and international efforts to apply the best practices in protecting sea turtles.