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The interior of the Islands of Linosa, mainly desert, features only a few cultivated grounds, notably the so-called Fossa del Cappellano that is well-sheltered from winds. Bordered by lava basalt jagged rocks, Linosa is considered a paradise for divers and sea watchers who can enjoy richest wildlife and vegetation (See Lampedusa, A Submerged World) At Linosa, the black and warmer sandy beach of Gaia Pozzolana di Ponente sees a majority of female sea turtles “Caretta Caretta” hatchlings, due to the higher (above 30° C) temperature of its sand. Temperatures under thirty degrees produce nearly all male hatchlings. The Caretta-Caretta (Loggerhead Sea Turtle) are peaceful creature, solitary throughout the year except for the breeding season, and lives in most temperate waters and nests every two or three years. It comes ashore at night, digs a nest (between 40 and 75cm) and soon covers it by using her hind flippers. This task accomplished, she makes her way back to the sea. The clutch, mostly lost to predators, hatches in a period between six and eight weeks. The hatchlings are a favorite food of birds and humans. Once out to the sea, they become a prey of fishes, who much appreciate their tender meat. In 1978, the loggerhead was listed as a threatened species. Pollution, habitat loss and pesticides are major reasons for its decline. The loggerhead shares the same threats that menace all marine turtles.
The Hydrosphera Rehabilitation Center, centred on the Island of Linosa, have conducted interesting studies on the loggerhead thanks to help from volunteers coming from across the world. The center is equipped to provide emergency service. The two centers on Lampedusa and Linosa form part of a broader National project on sea turtles curated by the Department of Animal and Human Biology at the La Sapienza University of Rome. The island’s wildlife include a remarkable number of Maltese Wall Lizards and Shearwaters, a type of aquatic bird renowned for his melancholic singing. The black sandy beach of Gaia Pozzolana is a significant loggerhead nesting beach. Lovers of walking excursions can stroll about the amazing paths leading to the three major peaks of the island, namely the Red Mount, whose crater is covered with cultivations, the Black Mount and the Vulcano Mount, from whose top cars in Lampedusa are clearly visible when the wind blows from the South-West. Lampione is a desert islet of the Pelagian archipelago. Landmarked by a lighthouse and steep cliffs plunging to 60m depth, Lampione has a pristine environment and uncontaminated sea-floors. Its richest underwater flora and fauna make it a real paradise for divers and snorkelers.Defined ever since antiquity as " a stone tossed into the Ionian Sea", which dropped out of the hands of a Cyclope, Lampione, known in old times as Fanale or Scoglio degli Scolari, is actually an islet with steep cliffs over the sea, calcareous like Lampedusa, to which it was perhaps connected thousands of years ago. Lampione is distant from the Mediterranean routes, and difficult to get to, and has always been uninhabited. It is a small island 700 m long, 180 m large, with a maximum height of 40 m. It lies 17 km North-West from Lampedusa. It is completely deserted, there is just a lighthouse that can be reached through a tiny path. It is a precious area which is ecologically intact.
That is to say, here the flora and fauna are in perfect and harmonic balance, so much so that a total nature reserve has been set up there to protect an ecosystem in which the natural environment must be totally protected. Hence the only activity allowed on Lampione is study and scientific research. The fauna community is rich here. It encludes some endemic species. It is the reign of birds (falcons and marine birds) that can nest here without anyone to disturb them, but it is also the paradise of divers, who, here, can even meet the terrible grey shark. The sea bed, very rich in fine fish species, is also renowned for the rich presence of sponges. It can be reached by boat from Lampedusa in 1 hour. Come to discover Linosa Lampione and all the Pelagie islands by boat: their amazing nature will definitely make you sailing holiday unforgettable.
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