A series of rough seas pictures from Malta, that I’ve decided to call The Other Great Siege of Malta.

The actual Great Siege of Malta was a long and bloody affair between Christians from the West and the Ottoman Empire to the East. You can read a great account of the build up and outcome of the events in 1565 on this post by ilovemalta.com.mt (a website dedicated to Maltese gastronomy, which there is plenty of.)

However, when I visited Malta and Gozo, I witnessed another attack on the islands that still goes on today. Sat deep in the Mediterranean Sea, with no cover from the open water,  the Maltese archipelago takes a regular thrashing from rough seas.

These rough seas pictures are just a few shots of the frothy waters that I took on a windy winters day.

The waves charge over rocks towards Sliema

The financial district sees a crash coming…

A heavy swell crashes into the concrete jetty of a lighthouse

A dangerous day for a walk on the coast

You can see the toll the waves have taken, with a flattened bed of rock surrounding most of the shore, reaching out into the Mediterranean just below sea level. But much of the coast now has man-made fortifications, trying to limit damage from the relentless forces of nature.

The sea trying to take over the roads

Rough seas come hurtling at the shore

Another wave rises over the hidden rockbed

A Lesser-Spotted Maltese Stunt Gull

And the new man-made protection does it’s best to stop the advancing coastal erosion…

Man-made obstacles help defend the island

If the inhabitants of these islands weren’t busy protecting them, the land loss would be a lot faster. But there’s no denying who will win the Other Great Siege of Malta eventually…

Peter

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