Some wildlife news from Ibiza. This weekend saw the first ever Lagoon Challenge which has been organised to draw attention to the plight of the rapidly dwindling marine turtles in the Mediterranean.
The boat company Wind Cat House got 18 catamarans together - no mean feat, given the wide dispersal of this type of vessel throughout the Med - for a fun competition off Santa Eulalia. The poor old turtle is suffering quite badly because of the large amount of commercial fishing carried out using nets which catch the turtles as well as fish.
On the other side of Ibiza, the airport was the scene of a minor miracle of nature when two Harris Hawk chicks - a little boy and a little girl - hatched a couple of weeks ago. When they're all grown
up the chicks, which are members of the eagle family, will join the airport staff to perform a very important function. No, not working in the duty free, but scaring off all the other pesky birds
around the airport!
The mere sight of the hunting birds will be enough to put off seagulls from flying into the engines of the jets as they take-off and land. And if that doesn't do the trick, the Harris Hawks can attack from a height of about 400 metres, swooping down at great speed to catch their prey. I wonder how much they'll get paid for that?