'Unusual' discovery at Aussie beach in broad daylight stuns locals
While it's not 'uncommon' for a turtle to lay her eggs on Queensland beaches, the timing and location of this one certainly is.
Locals were stunned by an "unusual" discovery on a popular beach in recent weeks, which prompted volunteers to rush in and snap into action before harm could be done.
A green sea turtle came ashore onto Bokarina Beach on Queensland's Sunshine Coast to lay her clutch of eggs as the start of the hatching season kicks off across the state. But the timing of her visit and her location baffled many, Yahoo New Australia was told.
Sea turtles are known to lay their eggs "under the cover of darkness", not during the day. Additionally, they often travel up onto the sand dunes, away from the water's edge. This one however "lay her nest below the high tide mark" making locals thinking she "was in a hurry".
"Research shows turtles prefer dark stretches of beach to nest on. Turtles don’t usually nest during the day," a Sunshine Coast Council spokesperson explained to Yahoo News Australia. But they can occasionally nest during the daytime or early morning, "particularly under certain conditions such as overcast skies, or proximity to high tide".
Sunshine Coast TurtleCare volunteers found the turtle on their early morning walk where they look for signs of turtle tracks. Photos shared online last week show a group of volunteers crowding around a patch of sand while some "dug a bund wall to temporarily protect the nesting mother and her eggs".
"Marine turtle embryos breathe through the shell, so if the nest is too wet, oxygen can't reach the eggs and they can suffocate," the council explained.
Trained TurtleCare Citizen Scientists relocated the clutch of vulnerable eggs to a safer place in the dunes to avoid inundation by the high tide, to increase both "the chance of incubation success, and the subsequent hatchlings making it to the ocean".
When speaking with Yahoo on Monday, Turtles of Moreton Bay rescuer Mick Croft said this behaviour can be "pretty unusual" but it's not necessarily unheard of — especially among other sea turtle species including flatbacks.
"The behaviour is a little bit unusual for populated areas," including Bokarina, he explained. But not so much in less crowded beaches including Raine Island in Cairns or Western Australia's Ningaloo Reef.
A 'false crawl' likely explains sea turtle's behaviour
In the case of this turtle at Bokarina, he suspects it might have done a "false crawl". This refers to when sea turtles come ashore with eggs but they turn around without depositing them on the sand as they normally would.
"Sometimes if you're walking on the beach, you'll see sea turtle tracks and it does like a big U-turn and heads back down the beach. That's what is called a false crawl," he explained.
"They've decided for whatever reason — whether it be nearby people, or it's too wet — that it just didn't feel right so they head back out to sea".
But through that process, it might be that she "needs to abort" her eggs. This could explain why the eggs were laid quite low down the beach. Additionally, it's not "uncommon" for inexperienced nesters to drop their eggs away from the dunes, although, looking at the images, this turtle appears "mature" and experienced," he said.
Beachgoers warned to stay alert during nesting season
During nesting season, which in Queensland, typically runs between November to January each year, beachgoers are encouraged to stay alert. Drivers visiting the state's 4WD beaches must avoid driving along the dunes and after sunset when the turtles are known to nest.
"One of the threats posed by 4WD vehicles during turtle season is that hatchlings will get stuck in tyre tracks, dramatically increasing the time they are on the beach, where they are at risk of being eaten by a predator or dying by exhaustion," Bribie Island Environmental Protection Association Inc (BIEPA) President Richard Ogden told Yahoo.
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