Marsaxlokk beach covered in clam shells following strong winds

Apr 5 2022

Posting to Facebook, Alan Deidun shared images by Bjorn Schembri of a Marsaxlokk beach utterly covered with empty bivalve shells, such as those of cockles and clams.

The bivalve shell is part of the body, the exoskeleton or shell, of a bivalve mollusk. This is a class of, in this case, marine molluscs that have laterally compressed bodies closed up by a shell consisting of two hinged parts.

The extraordinary sight, Deidun speculated, was due to the strong South-East winds which ‘pummelled the area in recent weeks.’

The strong weather patterns likely dislodged all form of burrowing creatures which were sheltering within the soft seabed of the embayment. Deidun described it as a rare sight.

Some interesting facts about these molluscs is that they appeared in the fossil record more than 500 million years ago and there are about 9,200 living species of them.

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Photo Source: Bjorn Schembri (as shared by Alan Deidun)

550,000 people watched live Pope visit broadcast

Apr 5 2022

Over the two day Papal visit by Pope Francis in Malta, TVM and TVMNews+ audiences exceeded 328,000 people, with followers of tvmnews.mt amounting to 220,000 people.

The broadcasts consisted of a daytime programme and news bulletins covering the entire visit. A 27-hour broadcast involved several people, with live links from around 20 different locations.

The two programmes on TVM News Plus reached an audience of 328,000 pope over two days. They both ended with two 8pm news bulletins.

Head of News at PBS, Norma Saliba, said that as soon as the date of the Pope’s arrival was announced, the entire team of journalists and the PBS technical crew immediately got to work on all preparations that were needed to enable us deliver the broadcasts as we saw last weekend.

‘We derived satisfaction from those who watch and from the feedback they gave us but it is also gratifying for me that all journalists and those all those involved have shown how professional they are, and just how worthy the national station is of giving such broadcasts of national interest’ she said.

The physical attendances of Papal visits in various areas on the island also saw thousands of people. The final Floriana Granaries mass saw 12,000 attendees.

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One of Malta’s favourite TV shows Liquorish returns and heads to South Africa

Apr 5 2022

Liquorish has just made its comeback to Maltese television, and contestants will be heading to the beautiful South Africa to see if they have what it takes.

The host of the show, Andrea Cassar, who has been at the helm of Liquorish from the beginning, expressed how excited she is to be bringing back this fan favourite programme.

She however highlighted how difficult it was to organise this year’s season, mostly due to the pandemic as even one participant tested positive for COVID-19.

This is the 18th season of the show, and it will spread over 15 episodes culminating in a finale in July.

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If any of the previous seasons of Liquorish are anything to go by, participants will have to face some serious challenges in a wild environment. They will have to compete and prove themselves over and over or risk elimination.

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Saharan dust dangerous for health; experts suggest people stay indoors

Apr 5 2022

A rather common weather phenomenon during spring, Saharan dust is most notably a nuisance for anyone with a car in Malta.

However, both government and scientific experts issue recommendations to people to stay inside when this weather pattern hits due to several health reasons.

Known as ‘xita tal-ħamrija’ in Maltese, the soil-laden rain leaves cars and rooftops covered in a dirty brown dust which can be harmful to peoples’ respiratory and cardiovascular systems.

A study which took place in Cyprus and Crete concerning Saharan dust found that children suffering from asthma who stayed indoors during such sandstorms experienced less impact on respiratory systems.

In Malta, this dust making its way from the massive desert, makes up around 15 to 20% of airborne particles. This comes with warnings for people to stay indoors when such weather is forecast.

Such weather patterns are unstoppable, so mitigation measures can only include staying inside, not exercising outdoors and having air purified. Malta had around 14 occurrences of such dust in 2021.

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