Fifteen hawksbill turtles left a mangrove centre in Kalba for the gulf

Fifteen rehabilitated hawksbill sea turtles went back into the water at the Khor Kalba Mangrove Centre on October 21, 2026. Sharjah24 reported that the release closed the Environment and Protected Areas Authority's campaign "Nature Conservation Journey: Discover the Mangrove Reserve."

Maryam Ali Al Qaidi, director of the centre, said the turtles were released only after rehabilitation and checks showed they could manage in the wild. She tied the work to the Sharjah Marine Stranding Response Programme, which began in 2015. The programme records strandings, studies threats such as plastic, chemical pollution, fishing gear, and boat strikes, and responds to turtles, sea snakes, seabirds, and marine mammals including dolphins and whales.

The event also showed tracking tools used after a release, and research with the University of Khorfakkan and the American University of Sharjah on how to tell marine turtle species apart and on microplastics. Sharjah24 did not give a survival count after the turtles left the beach. The reported result is the release of these 15 animals, not a new estimate of the hawksbill population in the gulf.