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Tunisian Experts Make Serious Efforts to Protect Sea Turtles

A relief worker holds a turtle after it was rescued (Reuters)
A relief worker holds a turtle after it was rescued (Reuters)
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Tunisian Experts Make Serious Efforts to Protect Sea Turtles

A relief worker holds a turtle after it was rescued (Reuters)
A relief worker holds a turtle after it was rescued (Reuters)

As part of ongoing efforts to preserve the marine ecological balance, experts and volunteers from environmental organizations are digging paths in the sands of Al-Ghadabna Beach, Mahdia Province, to help newly-born sea turtles head to the sea, reported the Arab News Agency (ANA).

Experts and volunteers from the Notre Grand Bleu (Our Big Blue) Organization help sea turtles hatch, and surround their nests with barriers to help the small ones return to the sea safely.

The Kuriat islands, located 18 km off the Monastir coasts, eastern Tunisia, was a major nesting site for the large-headed sea turtles known as “Caretta Caretta”, before discovering new ones including Al-Ghadabna Beach, in the Mahdia Province.

Olfat al-Shayeb, researcher at the National Institute of Marine Sciences and Technology (INSTM), says: “We monitor large nesting sites of sea turtles on daily basis in the Kuriat island and Al-Ghadabna Beach, and we are working on protecting them.”

“Two months after nesting, the eggs hatch, and we help them access the sea in a natural way. It’s important to let the small turtles lead their own way to the sea,” she told ANA.

“On their way back to the sea, a turtle marks the site with a print, so it can return 20-30 years later to leave its eggs where it was born,” she explained.

Dangers and balance

The environmental expert emphasized the importance of sea turtles in maintaining the balance of the marine ecosystem. “Their presence is evidence of the safety of the sea and beaches because sea turtles choose a suitable nesting site with the right temperature and humidity. It also plays a major role in maintaining the balance of the marine food chain.”

Experts say sea turtles are threatened by urban expansion, beach pollution, by-catch and climate change.

“Sea turtles face many dangers, such as artificial lighting driven by urban expansion. Such lights distract turtles when hatching, because they follow the light source instead of the sea,” al-Shayeb said.

She also cited pollution, plastic wastes, and by-catch: “Where turtles get stuck in plastic wastes and fishing nets, they die.”

However, she confirmed that the discovery of new nesting sites, most notably the Al- Ghadabna beach, shows that the project to protect sea turtles, which was launched in the 1990s, is fruitful.

“It is a remarkable find that confirms an expansion of nesting sites as a result of years of sea turtle protection in Tunisia,” the researcher said happily about the discovery of the new site.

“The discovery of a new nest proves that the efforts have paid off”, said Riyad Ghadira, activist from the Notre Grand Bleu Organization, noting that “it is a delightful news and gives us more hope”.

Importance of awareness

Environmental experts and organizations have also worked on spreading awareness about the importance of sea turtles and the need to protect them for their role in preserving marine ecological balances.

“When returning turtles to the sea, for example, we make sure that families, children, and officials are present to raise awareness of ways to protect sea turtles,” Olfat al-Shayeb said.

“We must work to raise awareness locally and regionally in Tunisia about the need to protect sea turtles and their nesting sites to protect them and prevent imbalances in the marine ecosystem,” she added.

She also suggested establishing turtle reserves that would promote eco-tourism, attract environment lovers, and contribute to raising awareness of the importance of marine creatures, including turtles, in maintaining the ecological b

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Varieties

The Dachshund Is the Muse in an Exhibition Showcasing the Sausage Dog’s History in Art

A dog sits during the exhibition "The Dachshund: An Icon off the Leash," dedicated to dachshunds in art, at Kunsthalle Bremen in Bremen, Germany, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026. (AP)
A dog sits during the exhibition "The Dachshund: An Icon off the Leash," dedicated to dachshunds in art, at Kunsthalle Bremen in Bremen, Germany, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026. (AP)
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The Dachshund Is the Muse in an Exhibition Showcasing the Sausage Dog’s History in Art

A dog sits during the exhibition "The Dachshund: An Icon off the Leash," dedicated to dachshunds in art, at Kunsthalle Bremen in Bremen, Germany, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026. (AP)
A dog sits during the exhibition "The Dachshund: An Icon off the Leash," dedicated to dachshunds in art, at Kunsthalle Bremen in Bremen, Germany, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026. (AP)

The humble dachshund is taking center stage in a new exhibition in Germany that explores the history of the sausage dog in art — and visitors are welcome to bring their four-legged friends along.

“The Dachshund: An Icon off the Leash" opens at the Kunsthalle Bremen on Saturday, showcasing artwork by dachshund owners and fans including Pablo Picasso, David Hockney and Andy Warhol. In addition to painting, drawing, photography and video, visitors can admire delights such as a wealth of stuffed toy dogs and many other dachshund-themed objects.

Museum director Christoph Grunenberg believes it's the world's first exhibition dedicated to the dachshund in art, rather than dogs in general.

“There are many artists who owned dachshunds, who were inspired by the dachshund, loved the dachshund,” Grunenberg said. “It was like a muse and there is an incredible wealth of representation of the dachshund in very different styles by significant artists.”

“We wanted to take the dachshund as an object, as an inspiration to artists, and trace it through history in all its different forms and important works of art by Picasso, Warhol and Hockney and also ephemera,” he added.

The dog has a long association with Germany. Kaiser Wilhelm II had dachshunds, or Dackel in German; and Britain's Queen Victoria was a fan of the dogs, some brought from Germany. But the show casts its net wider, with exhibits brought in from Edinburgh, Los Angeles and Pittsburgh among others.

German artist Thorsten Brinkmann honored the compact dogs’ reputation as a “handbag dog” with a bronze sculpture that features a handbag on dachshund legs. He also provided the colorful “Toxie Love” installation in the exhibition’s first room, which sets a playful tone for the show.

The dachshund, he said, has “a very curious, very special form, very long — kind of too long, actually, with the short legs — and it looks already surrealistic to me.” He was helped by objects loaned by the Dachshund Museum in Regensburg, in southern Germany.

For several hours on Thursdays and Saturdays, the museum will let dachshunds and other small dogs into three of its eight rooms for a look and a sniff.

Among the conditions: they must have a maximum shoulder height of 30 centimeters (about 1 foot) and an online time-slot ticket. A “Dachshund Lounge” will be offered as a waiting area.

“We want to take the dog seriously as a personality and the dog can walk around, can interact, will be able to watch videos, look outside the window, smell — and of course that’s what the dog really is interested in,” Grunenberg said.

Finnish photographer Elina Brotherus' dachshund, Marcello, already checked out the wares ahead of the opening of the exhibition, which features Brotherus' pictures of the 13-year-old dog.

Marcello has been her model since 2013, Brotherus said. “I did not manage to have children, so then we got him and he’s my baby.”

“There’s something so, like, cute and philosophical and special about these dogs,” she said.

Kelsey Crossman, a business developer who lives in Bremen and originally hails from Florida, was invited to a preview of the show at a dachshund meetup group and explored it with her dachshund, Leonidas, or Leo for short.

She said the dogs' appeal is in “their attitudes — they’re small, but they’re very strong and a little stubborn, probably like myself.” And, of course, they're light enough to be easily transported.

Crossman enjoyed the dachshund collectibles in Brinkmann's installation — “a really cool collection of little dachshunds that you might see at grandma’s house, or collectors' things, and a ton of stuffed animals.”

But, she added: “Leo is not allowed near them because he will certainly grab one from the exhibit.”

Varieties

Nations Commit to Get Nature Goals Back on Track

Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity Astrid Schomaker (C-R), Armenia's Minister of Environment and COP17 President Hambardzum Matevosyan (C-L), Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity Jihyun Lee (3rd L), and other members of the secretariat react during the closing session of the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP17) in Yerevan on October 31, 2026. (AFP)
Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity Astrid Schomaker (C-R), Armenia's Minister of Environment and COP17 President Hambardzum Matevosyan (C-L), Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity Jihyun Lee (3rd L), and other members of the secretariat react during the closing session of the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP17) in Yerevan on October 31, 2026. (AFP)
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Nations Commit to Get Nature Goals Back on Track

Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity Astrid Schomaker (C-R), Armenia's Minister of Environment and COP17 President Hambardzum Matevosyan (C-L), Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity Jihyun Lee (3rd L), and other members of the secretariat react during the closing session of the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP17) in Yerevan on October 31, 2026. (AFP)
Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity Astrid Schomaker (C-R), Armenia's Minister of Environment and COP17 President Hambardzum Matevosyan (C-L), Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity Jihyun Lee (3rd L), and other members of the secretariat react during the closing session of the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP17) in Yerevan on October 31, 2026. (AFP)

Nearly 200 nations struck hard-fought agreements Friday at a UN biodiversity summit, but the outcome was accompanied by disappointment over missed opportunities to address humanity's destructive toll on nature.

Delegates cheered as crucial texts were approved in overtime but the celebrations were tempered by acrimonious debates and regret over limited progress on some of the most contentious issues.

The COP17 summit in Armenia sought to revive a landmark commitment to halt and reverse the destruction of nature by 2030 after global efforts to meet that goal fell short.

Over two bruising weeks in Yerevan, nations were urged to correct course to keep the pact alive and protect the plants, animals and ecosystems that sustain life on Earth.

The United Nations had warned that progress was insufficient to meet the goals of the 2030 target including protecting 30 percent of Earth's land and oceans, tackling pollution and invasive species, and boosting money for conservation.

"And that's it. Perfect," said COP17 president Hambardzum Matevosyan in Armenia as he brought down the gavel on two major texts, the final versions of which were still not available early Saturday.

But the outcome was "not commensurate" with the crisis engulfing the natural world, said French Ecological Transition Minister Monique Barbut on Saturday.

"The progress we failed to achieve here is a series of missed opportunities to speed up our response to the loss of biodiversity," Barbut said in a lengthy statement sent to AFP, stressing that "nature will not wait for the pace of our negotiations."

- 'Step forward' -

The final plenary stretched through Friday night and well into the next morning, with negotiations turning sour as the hours dragged on.

Even as some delegates left to catch flights, others stayed behind to argue technical points.

Veteran COP observer Juliette Landry from the IDDRI think tank told AFP "there was a lot of push and pull in every direction" throughout the summit and "in that context, it's hard to get things accepted".

UN biodiversity chief Astrid Schomaker said the summit had achieved some "quite remarkable things at a moment when multilateralism is supposedly not functioning."

"Some of these more difficult subjects, we could not expect to have strong negotiated commitments. That was never the plan," she told reporters after the summit's close.

In a draft agreement of one closely watched text, nations were urged to "accelerate" their efforts and warned that "increased action" was needed to tackle the forces driving biodiversity loss.

This "represents a positive outcome... and though there are weaknesses, particularly on harmful subsidies, it does represent a step forward," Guido Broekhoven from WWF International told AFP.

Tackling subsidies and other incentives that encourage activities harmful to nature -- such as fossil fuels, intensive agriculture and overfishing -- was one of the most politically fraught agenda items at the summit.

"Even though the agreed decision text expresses it in weak terms, COP17 saw important political momentum to address harmful financial incentives, including subsidies," An Lambrechts from Greenpeace International told AFP.

A rare fight over science cast a pall over the summit, with a number of countries accused of undermining efforts to approve key reports in scenes that shocked even seasoned negotiators.

"We regret the increasing instances in which scientific evidence and its uptake has been challenged or constrained" by politics, said Swiss negotiator Gabriela Blatter in a statement on behalf of dozens of countries.

"Our delegations fully respect every state's right to safeguard national interest but science is not negotiable".

- Finance feud -

A separate row revolved around finding new cash sources to fund conservation efforts -- another hot-button issue with public budgets under strain amid an energy crisis and conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.

The European Union led a charge for wealthy emerging economies such as China to contribute to global conservation efforts, a contentious issue at COP17.

In a sign of possible compromise, another draft text that circulated Friday invited countries outside the developed-country donors to voluntarily join the group.

Outstanding questions over the design of the Cali Fund -- a UN mechanism that hoped to attract billions of dollars in corporate contributions but is close to empty -- were left unresolved.

"By punting essential decisions to two years from now, parties have all but ensured the fund remains empty until then," said Pakhi Das from the nonprofit organization Plant-for-the-Planet.

The COP17 summit decided early Saturday that Ecuador would host the next biodiversity talks in 2028 after the South American nation defeated rival candidate Panama in a secret vote.

Varieties

Long-Distance Flights Can Interfere with the Internal Clocks of Seabirds

A Manx shearwater flies around Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire, Wales, Britain, in this handout image released on October 29, 2026. (Joe Wynn/Handout via Reuters)
A Manx shearwater flies around Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire, Wales, Britain, in this handout image released on October 29, 2026. (Joe Wynn/Handout via Reuters)
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Long-Distance Flights Can Interfere with the Internal Clocks of Seabirds

A Manx shearwater flies around Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire, Wales, Britain, in this handout image released on October 29, 2026. (Joe Wynn/Handout via Reuters)
A Manx shearwater flies around Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire, Wales, Britain, in this handout image released on October 29, 2026. (Joe Wynn/Handout via Reuters)

People who travel across many time zones, like a trip from London to Tokyo, may experience jet lag, with the body's internal 24-hour clock — the circadian rhythm — thrown out of sync with the local time at the arrival location. A new study shows that birds that fly long distances may experience a similar phenomenon that causes them to drift off course.

Research involving seabirds called Manx shearwaters found that crossing the Atlantic at speed can throw their internal clocks out of sync with local time, causing errors in the strategy they use to navigate their way home.

Birds can use several cues to find their way, including having the sun serve as a compass. A bird flying south sees the sun on its left at sunrise and on its right toward sunset, so it must keep adjusting its heading as the sun moves across the sky.

"Animals use an internal clock to do this, the ‌same one that tells ‌our bodies when to sleep, when to be active," said Patrick Lewin, a researcher ‌at ⁠the University of ⁠Oxford's Department of Biology and one of the leaders of the study published in the journal Science.

To investigate how the birds navigate across vast stretches of open ocean, researchers analyzed 20 years of GPS data from 1,045 breeding Manx shearwaters, birds that can travel as far as about 1,000 km (620 miles) west from colonies on islands off Britain on foraging trips.

Using the positions of the birds and the sun's movement across the sky, the researchers calculated the error each bird should make if its internal clock stayed set to the time at dawn. Across 335 homing flights made out of sight of land, the headings of the birds closely matched those ⁠predicted errors.

"The process behind what we're observing here — the mismatch between the internal clock ‌and external time caused by longitudinal movements — is exactly the same as what ‌causes jet lag in humans," Lewin said.

The researchers have not yet investigated whether the clock mismatch affects the birds beyond navigation. But internal clocks ‌influence behaviors including feeding and rest, raising the possibility that those too could be mistimed.

Shearwaters tend to hunt shortly ‌after dawn and before dusk, when fish and other prey are closer to the surface, meaning a mistimed rest period could cost them a feeding opportunity, Lewin said.

The study also showed that birds kept using their solar compass even when another source of information was readily available. Along coastlines, where familiar land could potentially guide them, their distance from shore still shifted in the direction predicted by clock-related sun-compass errors.

A ‌TWO-STEP PROCESS

"For most navigational tasks, it is thought that compass systems are used in conjunction with a map system in a kind of two-step process. In the map step, ⁠the animal determines where it is ⁠in relation to a goal, such as a home colony. Then in the compass step it uses a compass to translate that into movement," said Tim Guilford, a University of Oxford professor of animal behavior who was one of the study leaders.

The birds may continue to combine these systems even in familiar areas, rather than relying entirely on one or the other.

"If this only produces small deviations, there might not be strong selection against it," Lewin said.

Another possibility is that the sun compass helps the birds determine which way to go along the linear feature, Lewin said.

Even clouds may not render the sun compass useless. Evidence suggests that birds can sense polarized light and estimate the sun's position unless conditions are heavily overcast, Lewin said.

In people, jet lag can cause unpleasant short-term effects and has been linked to longer-term health problems in those who experience it frequently, such as airline pilots and flight attendants.

It is not yet known whether birds experience similar effects, but species such as shearwaters that regularly travel rapidly east-west may have evolved ways to cope with repeated disruption to their internal clocks, Lewin said.

"Knowing this phenomenon is occurring is only the first step, but perhaps these birds could teach us something about how to treat or avoid jet lag," Lewin said.