On a barge some hundreds of metres off the Kerkennah Islands in southern Tunisia, a group of young students watch intently as Besma, a recovering sea turtle, shuffles and dives into the water. Used to treat injured loggerhead turtles, the barge is the first floating rehabilitation centre for the species in the Mediterranean, according to its organisers. "We treat the turtles before releasing them back into the sea. We tag them and monitor their behaviour at sea. We make sure that the turtles are 100% capable of taking care of themselves in their natural environment," explains Hamed Mallat, a marine biologist who is leading the UN-funded project. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES