The first turtle hatchlings of the season have emerged on the Sunshine Coast!
Around 200 baby turtles made their way into the ocean from two nests at Buddina Beach on Thursday and Saturday nights.
It’ll be around 30 years before we see them again; the hatchlings will make their way to the Eastern Australian Current and across the ocean, with just a one in a thousand chance of surviving to a mature age.
“Over the next 15 years they’re going to take a trans-Pacific migration across the Peru and Chile and then return back to eastern Australia… and we’ll see them hopefully back on Sunshine Coast beaches in around 2053,” says Sunshine Coast Council conservation officer Kate Hofmeister.
Ms Hofmeister is reminding locals to do their bit to keep the animals safe and help them find the ocean.
“Obviously we want to keep our beaches as clean as possible to make way for those little hatchlings to make their way down the dunes and into the ocean, but also really importantly for our coastal communities is to cut the glow. So switch off unnecessary outside lighting after 8pm.”
She’s praised the efforts of locals who have made a major impact along popular nesting beaches in recent years.
“We’ve had a huge increase in dark skies across Buddina and Point Cartwright over the last couple of years, and we congratulate all of the residents through those areas for really promoting those turtle-sensitive behaviours through their communities.”
Close to a hundred nests have been laid between Bribie Island and Noosa so far this season, with more nesting turtles still coming ashore.
