Samantha Donovan: Conservationists in New South Wales are reporting a bumper nesting season for sea turtles, with hundreds hatching at spots along the state's coast. In Queensland, the birth rate has been even higher. Once those hatchlings have made their way from the nest to the sea, they're going on an even bigger adventure, their first swim to South America. Isabel Moussalli prepared this report.
Archives: OK, we're clear to release.
Isabel Moussalli: Clinging to a branch and lowered into the water, six loggerhead turtle hatchlings are released into the ocean. They're the survivors of a nest laid late in the season and have been under the care of authorities for weeks. It may seem like a small number, but across New South Wales, at least 877 sea turtles have hatched from just 12 nests this season.
Holly West: In any nest, you can have anywhere from 100 to our biggest nest this season had 160 eggs laid in it.
Isabel Moussalli: Holly West is the coordinator of Turtle Watch New South Wales. She says just finding and monitoring the nests is a massive effort.
Holly West: We rely so heavily on our volunteers and citizen scientists out there to alert us if they see tracks on the beach from a mama turtle coming up to lay her eggs. So yeah, we need everybody out there to keep their eyes open during nesting season to help us manage and monitor these nests.
Isabel Moussalli: In total, the state saw nearly 200 green turtle hatchlings and about 700 loggerhead turtles. Now they're off on a big adventure to South America.
Holly West: That's where they head over to get bigger and grow. So we don't see little loggerheads on our shores here. They go over there as sub-adults and come back in a bigger size class. So we don't see little loggerheads on our coastline here once they leave as hatchlings.
Isabel Moussalli: But they won't all make the journey. Holly West explains they have a one in a thousand chance of reaching adulthood. Even in low numbers, she says the New South Wales hatchlings can still leave their mark.
Holly West: Everyone that we can get back out into the water is really important. And our turtles here on the New South Wales coastline are especially important because we're producing primarily males, which with increasing global temperatures, there might be a feminisation of sea turtle populations around the world. So our boys are pretty critical to get back out into the ocean.
Isabel Moussalli: Across the border on Queensland's Bribie Island, volunteers believe they've had 4,000 hatchlings this season, mostly loggerheads.
Diane Oxenford: We think we've had a wonderful season. Absolutely. A lot of work, but amazing.
Isabel Moussalli: That's Diane Oxenford from the Bribie Island Turtle Trackers. When she says a lot of work, she means volunteers monitor the beach every day for six months looking for tracks. And when needed, they relocate nests to boost their chances.
Diane Oxenford: We're pretty successful. Bribie Island's nests, we get pretty much an average of above 90% success rate with our healthy dunes and healthy turtles. So it's really nice, except if predators come and muck up our statistics, our success rates.
Isabel Moussalli: And how does that compare with if you just left them alone?
Diane Oxenford: Oh, I think the predators, particularly in the areas where the National Park area, they would have lost probably all the nests or most of them to goannas, foxes, pigs. And the other thing is, you know, we're fencing some of the nests that are vulnerable to four wheel drive traffic as well, because some people do drive on the dunes even though they're not supposed to. So if we think a nest is going to be bothered by four wheel drives driving in dunes, we fence that and that deters anybody from driving near that nest. She believes all the effort is worth it. If we are going to save a species from extinction, it's extremely important. You know, turtles are part of the whole ecosystem, the interdependent ecosystem of our oceans. And our loggerheads of the South Pacific Ocean are a distinct genetic part of the species. So that's why we are so precious about trying to save every nest from predation and from destruction of any sort and to get as many little hatchlings out there so they can grow up and come back in 26 to 30 years time for our great grandchildren to see.
Samantha Donovan: Oh, what great work. That's Diane Oxenford from Bribie Island Turtle Trackers. That report from Isabel Moussalli and Elizabeth Cramsie.