Margie Maccoll
“We have a beach full of boys and that’s not a bad thing,” Coolum and North Shore Coast Care president Leigh Warneminde said of this year’s turtle nests.
With the sex of turtles dependent on sand temperature our wet and windy summer has kept the sand temperature average down to around 26 degrees Celsius while it needs to be above 28.5 degrees for females.
A bunch of boys may be a welcome addition to sea turtle populations considering a study of green turtles on the Great Barrier Reef by Jensen et.al published in Current Biology in 2018 found the bias toward females ranged from 70 to 99 per cent, raising concerns for the species with global temperature rises predicted.
Leigh said it had been an unusual nesting season along the Sunshine Coast.
There have been 18 nests – three green and the rest loggerhead turtles – compared to 31 nests last year, and Alexandria Bay has been the stand out destination for the turtles. The nests have incubated 70-80 days instead of the usual 50-70 days and there have only been two nest runs including one at Peregian Beach Friday night. And we’re still getting nests with the last known one laid at Peregian Beach Saturday night below the high tide mark which volunteers transferred to higher ground to prevent it being washed away, she said.
Leigh said considering there are only 600 nesting turtles in Queensland and they take 3-5 years to build up their condition to lay eggs it’s not surprising there are fewer nests this year.
As the hatchlings are expected over the coming weeks until the end of April and perhaps early May Leigh is asking beachside residents to cover their windows or turn off lights at night to stop them running toward their lights instead of the sea.
She’s asking people to pick up large beach debris to make their journey easier and if anyone sees evidence of hatchling runs such as tracks to give them a call on 0478 435 377 and for more information visit coolumcoastcare.org.au
