Departments of Biology and Marine Sciences, Islamic University of Gaza, Palestine
*Corresponding author:Abdel Fattah N Abd Rabou, Departments of Biology and Marine Sciences, Faculty of Science, Islamic University of Gaza, P. O. Box 108, Gaza Strip, Palestine
Submission: November 28, 2024;Published: January 23, 2025
ISSN : 2578-031XVolume7 Issue3
The Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta Linnaeus, 1758) is found in almost all seas and oceans of the world and is the most common sea turtle species in the Mediterranean. This modest study, the first of its kind locally, aims to shed light on the status of Loggerhead Sea Turtle in the Gaza Strip, Palestine. The current study, which extends from 2005 to 2024, relied on repeated field visits to the Gaza Strip coast (42km), fishing ports, fish markets, zoos, and museums, holding meetings and discussions with relevant parties, following up and reviewing local media reports and social media related to sea turtles, in addition to taking measurements, observations and documentary photographs. The current study recorded, for the first time after a decades-long hiatus, in July 2021, the nesting and hatching of the Loggerhead Sea Turtle on the beach of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Among other sea turtle species, the Loggerhead Sea Turtle has been exploited as food by a small number of Gazans, especially fishermen, and is kept in captivity and/or taxidermied in Gaza zoos and museums, with live or dead specimens often found stranded on the seashore..
In a positive sign, several cases of live specimens of the sea turtles being returned to the sea by the Directorate General of Fisheries in the Ministry of Agriculture or other Gazans were recorded. Local media coverage of sea turtle catch, bycatch, stranding, and reintroduction is good and perhaps promising. The threats facing Loggerhead Sea Turtles in the Gaza Strip are numerous and included fishing gear and bycatch, vessel strikes, harvesting for consumption, marine pollution, marine debris with regard to ingestion and/or entanglement, beach activities, artificial lighting, coastal erosion, and climate change. The study concludes with a recommendation to protect and conserve sea turtles and intensify scientific studies on their ecology and biology in the marine ecosystem of the Gaza Strip, as they are endangered creatures worldwide.
Keywords:Loggerhead sea turtle; Caretta caretta; Mediterranean sea; Nesting and hatching; Stranding; Exploitation; Reintroduction to sea; Media coverage; Threats; Gaza strip; Palestine