“…Several alternative and not mutually exclusive drivers could result in such a foraging area-specific increase in re cruitment. These include (1) an increase in the survival probabilities of juveniles and sub-adults as industrial fisheries are excluded (Casale 2011, Casale & Heppell 2016, (2) greater foraging re sources reducing the age to sexual maturity , (3) temporal oscillations in sea surface currents, such as those dictated by the Cyprus eddy (Zodiatis et al 2005), that can vary the distribution of pelagic-stage juveniles and thus the number of individuals recruiting to each foraging area (Gaspar et al 2012, Scott et al 2014 or (4) a shift in the ecological conditions within Lake Bardawil so that this site now provides a more suitable foraging resource (El-Bana et al 2002, Abd Ellah & Hussein 2009, Nada et al 2013. To expand on this latter hypothesis, evidence suggests that the reopening and ongoing maintenance of the 2 man-made channels in the western and central part of the lake have significantly reduced salinity levels (1970: 100 ‰, 2012: 46.1 ‰) (Abd Ellah & Hussein 2009, Nada et al 2013 and references therein) and allowed Cymo docea nodosa, the primary dietary item of the green turtle within the Mediterranean (Cardona 2010), to colonise and now dominate the shallow western basin (ElBana et al 2002, Abd Ellah & Hussein 2009).…”