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Published: December 10th 2006
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08/12/06 - 10/12/06 Bundaberg & Childers
Bundaberg is the sugar cane area of Queensland and famous for the Bundaberg rum distillery with the name known all over Australia and beyond, but it’s also famous for something else. 14km north of town is a small 1.5km long stretch of beach called Mon Repos. Between December and March every year this beach becomes the biggest rookery for marine turtles, particularly loggerheads, in the Southern Hemisphere, possibly the world. Marine turtles have been studied at Mon Repos for over 50 years by marine biologist Dr Colin Limpus, with hatchlings tagged 30 years ago now starting to return to lay eggs themselves.
Little is known about the hatchlings that leave Mon Repos, except that for about 30 years they are ‘lost’ in the world’s oceans, but females will always go back to the beach where they are born to lay their own eggs. They find the location precisely, using the earth’s magnetic field which is ‘branded’ onto their brain in the few minutes it takes them to wobble down the beach to the sea on their maiden voyage of life.
We waited patiently at the visitor centre close to the beach, from
18:30, knowing that nature may or may not produce a spectacle on demand on any given night. We were prepared for a long night ahead, and then suddenly at about 22:00 we were called down to the beach by the ranger. A loggerhead turtle had climbed the beach and was starting to nest in the dunes.
Any light or movement on the beach would have frightened the turtle away from nesting, so the beach is carefully monitored by the rangers, allowing visitors on only at a time when the animal won’t be disturbed. Once the turtle has dug her nest and tunnel (a bit like an inverted funnel) she starts to lay the eggs and goes into a kind of trance like state. At that point nothing will disturb her, and then the researchers hurry through their procedure of tagging and measuring the turtle, and limited flash photography is also allowed,
We watched the small soft ping pong all like eggs dropping from the female into the nest, an average of 127 per clutch, and I couldn’t help the thought that any watching Thai bar girl would be jealous of such a performance!
Our loggerhead turtle, named
K40343 by her loving scientific ‘parents’ had first nested at Mon Repos in 2001, making her at least 35 and definitely older than either of us! When she had finished laying her eggs, she carefully covered the eggs with sand, filling in the hole back to the same height as the beach, pushing hard with her flippers. It looked a huge effort for the 100kg turtle that usually glides so gracefully in water. Tear ducts in the eyes excrete excess salt, giving the impression that the turtle is crying and adding atmosphere to the amazing spectacle. Staying out of her line of vision we accompanied her on her journey back into the ocean, as far as the water’s edge. She will spend the next 2 weeks being mated by as many as 40 males for days at a time (these facts produced many interesting comments!), building up an internal sperm bank to fertilize the next clutch of eggs. The whole process will be repeated 4 or 5 times in one season that she lays, but turtles only come to lay every 2-8 years, whenever they have built up enough reserves of fat for the arduous journey and task.
She
Peekaboo frog
at the 3 Big Fig Trees B&B will never see her young, but, in approximately 8 weeks time, a small ‘volcano’ will occur as the tiny hatchlings pour out of the nest and head for the ocean. We turned away from the midnight beach, wishing that we could be back in 8 weeks later to witness that run of the tiny hatchlings down to the sea, but we have other plans on this trip and all we could do is make a mental note that someday in the future we will have to be in the right place at the right time, somewhere in the world…
The next morning after a fabulous breakfast from Joy in the Waterview B&B we popped into Bundaberg to the big barrel building, the home of the soft drinks manufacturer. We had been developing quite a taste for their ginger beer whilst traveling through Oz. Whilst there we also sampled the Apple ale and Sarsaparilla drink (made with the licorice tasting sarsaparilla root and vanilla) amongst others and stocked up on some supplies.
En-route to Fraser island, we only made it as far as Childers where Michelle of the 3BigFigTrees B&B was so hospitable that we just had to stay
Frog on the verandah
at the 3 Big Fig Trees B&B 2 nights and relax on the verandah with the beautiful 360 panoramic views of the surrounding countryside.
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Mock Murtle Turtle
Well I hope this turtle watch has forefulled your age 2 dream, I think our own mock is with Rosie.