A bale of endangered Loggerhead Turtle hatchlings was returned to the water at Shelly Beach on April 9 after an epic egg rescue.
The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) teamed up with the Darkinjung Local Aboriginal Land Council (DLALC), Central Coast Council, NSW TurtleWatch and Marine Wildlife Rescue Central Coast to release the hatchlings, which were born earlier in the week at Taronga Zoo’s Wildlife Hospital.
NPWS Team Leader Conservation, Doug Beckers, said the decision was made to relocate the 80-day-old eggs from their nest at Shelly Beach when sand temperatures dipped critically low.
“These healthy hatchlings will be welcomed back to Country so they can make their first dash into the Pacific Ocean, the outcome that we had all desperately hoped for,” he said.
“Intervening with the nest was our last resort, but the whole team pulled out all stops to save these eggs and thankfully the delicate operation paid off and we have given these hatchlings the best possible chance of survival.”
This is the first time a loggerhead turtle nest has been recorded this far south, and the first time DLALC has performed a cultural handover of turtle eggs into care.
DLALC led a Welcome (back) to Country and smoking ceremony for the turtles before they were returned to the waves.
“We as Aboriginal people have a strong, not just physical, connection to the turtle and its relationship to our people,” DLALC spokesperson Uncle Kevin (Gavi) Duncan said.
“It’s exciting for our people to see this as this hasn’t happened on Country for a long time.”
Visitors flocked to the beach to watch as the hatchlings were given a safe passage to the water.
Taronga Wildlife Hospital Senior Veterinarian Larry Vogelnest said an entire team had regularly monitored the health of the eggs through the hatching process during their stay.
“Being able to release them back into the wild is an enormous group effort,” he said.
Loggerhead turtles are listed as endangered and this nest was only one of two laid on NSW beaches this season.
Nest temperatures are vital to hatchling success and determine the sex of the turtles – these hatchlings are all male.
For more information on loggerhead turtles, visit the NSW Environment website or NSW TurtleWatch.
Source:
DPI
I have witnessed Loggerhead turtles laying their clutches of eggs at Mon Repos Beach (near Bundaberg QLD) during nesting season. The female turtle makes her slow crawl up the beach, as high as possible above the high tide mark, to lay 100-120 eggs. She returns two weeks later to lay again. Sometimes this sequence can be repeated up to three times from November to February.
I have also witnessed the hatchlings erupt from the chamber and make their way to the open sea in January to March.
Mature females return many years later to the same beach where they were born.
I hope the (male) Loggerhead hatchling who were ‘born’ on the Central Coast beach survive to procreate with a female, in further northern waters when they reach adulthood.
Isn’t Mother Nature just wonderful?