Sunday 21 / June / 2026
Muscat: Specialists at the Environment Authority's center in Masirah, South Al Sharqiyah Governorate, spotted a loggerhead turtle during routine field monitoring on the beach in the Al-Aijah area.
Ghasi bin Hamad Al Farsi, Environmental Monitoring Supervisor at the Masirah Environment Center, said that the turtle had been tagged 12 years ago during the 2014 nesting season at the same location. This adds to the documented record of this species' return to Masirah's beaches.
He explained that the female's return to the beach confirms established scientific knowledge about the behavior of this species; loggerhead turtles exhibit a strong attachment to their original nesting sites, a phenomenon known as site fidelity.
He further explained that the sighting indicates the female is still actively breeding despite more than a decade having passed since her last recorded return.
It is worth noting that this monitoring is recorded within the field data for the 2026 nesting season of the sandgrouse, and is added to the database of numbered individuals that the Environment Authority follows in the long term within the framework of the nesting beach management program on Masirah Island.
