Mona Khalil, a Lebanese marine ecologist who spent decades protecting endangered sea turtles along Lebanon’s southern coast, died Friday after sustaining severe wounds in an Israeli airstrike on her home near Tyre. She was 77. The strike that injured Khalil occurred the week before her death, according to Al Jazeera.
Her death came on a day of intensified Israeli air attacks across southern Lebanon that killed at least 50 people and wounded dozens more.
A Life Dedicated to the Sea
Khalil was born in Lagos, Nigeria, in 1949, and eventually settled near Tyre, where a chance encounter in 1999 would define the rest of her life. That year, she came across a turtle laying eggs on al-Mansouri beach and was moved to act. From that moment, she committed herself to safeguarding the nesting sites of loggerhead and green sea turtles, both endangered species that face extinction in the eastern Mediterranean due to coastal development, plastic pollution, fishing nets, and light pollution.
In 2000, she helped establish the Orange House, an eco-tourism project at al-Mansouri beach that became a hub for conservation efforts. She also documented marine life in the region and campaigned against coastal pollution, building a legacy as one of southern Lebanon’s most dedicated environmental advocates.
Mourned by Those She Inspired
Environmental group Live Love Tyre announced her death in a Facebook statement on Friday. “It is with deep sadness that we mourn the passing of Mona Khalil today,” the group wrote, adding that through years of conflict and hardship, “Mona chose to stay and care for the turtles of Live Love Tyre.”
Fadia Joumaa, one of those who knew her, captured the grief of her community: “You have left us yet you remain within us, we, your children.”
Khalil’s death drew attention not only to the toll of the ongoing conflict in Lebanon but also to the fragile conservation work she leaves behind on a coastline where sea turtles are already at grave risk.
