An Ancient Mariner


Advertisement
Australia's flag
Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Bargara
November 25th 2010
Published: November 28th 2010
Edit Blog Post

Today, 25th November was a special day for a few reasons - our niece Anna in Tewkesbury had a very special birthday – she was 40 today. We hope you had a very enjoyable birthday Anna especially in the knowledge that “life begins” today for you! Also, happy birthday to our good friend, Gill from Worton in Wiltshire. No doubt she will be celebrating in some exotic location with hubby Keith as they live up to their surname – Holiday! Lastly, this blog is our 50th – it’s amazing we have managed that many already!

For the first time we have done two separate blogs relating to just one day and this is why:

If you read our last blog you will know that we chose to stay at Bargara near Bundaberg for a specific reason. We had kitted ourselves out with long trousers and anoraks and had smothered any exposed areas on our bodies with mossie solution. We were ready for whatever the night would bring. We arrived at the Mon Repos Information Centre at about 6.30 and there were already a few people there. The Centre was cordoned off by now so no-one could get beyond the barriers. We gathered in a large waiting area where there were picnic benches and a “food van” which seemed to be doing good business. We had already eaten so we just sat and waited patiently. As time went on more and more people arrived. They were mostly young foreign tourists but a few more ‘oldies’ like us turned up. Then a coach load of about 40 schoolchildren arrived chattering excitedly. I had been ‘warned’ that this would happen but told that we were relatively lucky as often there are several coach loads of schoolchildren. The children were pretty well behaved and at first they sat in an orderly fashion on the grass while more and more people arrived. The adults then began to form a queue, which we joined, while the children were shepherded into a large amphi-theatre. One of the rangers then explained what would happen next and how the evening might unfold.

We were all here to witness, hopefully, one of nature’s most fascinating and wondrous events: GIANT SEA TURTLES coming out of the sea to lay their eggs in a sandy dune.

Mon Repos supports the largest concentration of nesting marine turtles on the Eastern Australian mainland and is one of the two largest Loggerhead turtle rookeries in the South Pacific Ocean. Giant turtles take anything from 30 to 50 years to reach maturity and it is only then that the females return to where they themselves had originally hatched to lay their eggs. How do they know where to go after spending so long at sea? Male turtles spend all their lives at sea which is obviously where mating takes place. After laying and burying their eggs the females have no further involvement in the incubation and will never know how many if any of their hatchlings survive. Clearly hatchlings are vulnerable as they emerge from the nest eight weeks later and make their tentative steps towards the ocean. In many places they are picked off by predators but here at Mon Repos, from January to March, wardens are on hand to make sure as many hatchlings as possible reach the water. They must be doing an excellent job as loggerheads numbers are on the increase. Successful breeding here is critical for the survival of this endangered species. Research at Mon Repos ensures this, but the centre is also used to guide other major Queensland rookeries and is an important training centre for research program volunteers and wildlife managers from the Indo-Pacific region. The 30-year research program examines reproductive and migration studies, animal surveys of nesting turtles, behavioural studies and incubation and genetic studies.

Everyone had pre-booked and the ranger advised that, in order of booking, we would be put into groups and when or if, as it was by no means certain, a turtle was spotted, the groups would be called in turn to go on to the beach. The long queue began to move through registration points and we, as expected because of our late booking, were put into the third group of three and were given bright pink stickers numbered 23 and 24. Everyone then had to “kill time” for a while until any beach activity occurred but this was easily done in the information centre and gift shop areas. We were told that if time dragged on with no sign of turtles then videos of previous “happenings” would be shown on a big screen in the amphi-theatre. Obviously we hoped that wouldn’t happen.

After about 20 minutes members of Group 1 were asked to make their way to the beach. This group, of course, was made up of the children as the events could easily continue for more than an hour and it would be unreasonable for them to be kept until last. Quite soon after, members of Group 2 were also called forward as another turtle had appeared. This was encouraging for us in Group 3 as we had been advised that not all groups were guaranteed a viewing. However, time went on and when the ranger said he would begin to play some videos we began to fear the worst. Another 15 minutes or so of video watching went by when the call went up: “another turtle has appeared”. Group 3 eagerly made it’s way to the beach only to have hopes dashed. The third turtle had appeared so close to one of the earlier groups as to make it impossible to watch without causing a disturbance to the earlier turtles. We were shepherded to a “safe” area and instructed to sit patiently on the sand-dunes to await further developments. After what seemed like ages, two turtles were then spotted some distance along the beach. We made our way cautiously along the water’s edge past the two other groups who by this time were successfully viewing egg laying. We continued in the dark for about ten more minutes but, alas, the first turtle we came to had already laid her eggs and was actually heading back towards the sea. We trudged on still further and, at last, came to the next turtle which had made her way up the dune and had dug her “nest” and was just about to begin laying. It was amazing how she seemed totally undisturbed by our presence. She was huge – about 5’ long and 3’ wide and probably weighed in excess of 300 kilograms. We were instructed to stay close as a group, to stand still and to stand only to the side or behind her. No photography was allowed until we were advised but it didn’t stop some less thoughtful people from taking crafty snaps. By this time Groups 1 and 2 had completed their viewing and were returning to the centre. But, as we stood there, more and more giant turtles began to appear!! It was a truly amazing spectacle.

The wardens caring for “our” turtle advised us that she hadn’t gone far enough up into the dune and that, if left un-attended, her eggs would be water-logged and would not hatch. So during the laying process, which took at least 40 minutes, he explained that on completion of the laying and once the turtle had gone back into the water, he would dig a fresh “nest” in a more suitable spot and would transfer the eggs to the new nest – and we all could help!! The warden duly marked the spot so that he could find the eggs later. Immediately after the laying process was completed the wardens were busy measuring the turtle and checking “tags” to record the event. The turtle was plainly exhausted by the effort of laying the eggs and just lay in the sand recovering for a while. It was then that we were told we could all take some photos!

Soon the turtle began filling in the nest which took some time. She then began, in a flurry of flippers and sand, to “disguise” her nest to deter predators. After a brief rest she began to make her way back to the ocean and attention was immediately centred on the re-location of the eggs. While this was all going on, and almost unnoticed, other turtles were digging and laying nearby. But the warden soon unearthed our turtle’s eggs and began to remove them, laying them neatly in rows of 10 in the sand - he removed 171 eggs!!!!! By this time another warden had dug a more suitable nest and we were all invited to help carry the eggs to the new nest. I did my bit carrying two lots of four eggs while Graham took photos.

On completion, attention was drawn to another nearby turtle and we were asked as a group if we wished to return to the centre or continue viewing. Without exception the decision was to stay on but, fortunately, this one had dug her nest in a more suitable place so the process would be much more straightforward. Also, she had obligingly stayed with her back to the sea so we were clearly able to see the eggs being laid. It felt a bit intrusive, watching something so “personal” but because all her focus and energy was on the task in hand she seemed totally unaware of us humans gazing in awe at her. Time was going on and, reluctantly, Group 3 had to make its way back to the centre which by this time was virtually deserted. After a very slow start to the evening we had by far the best involvement of all the groups and everyone was highly delighted. We had been so lucky with the weather as it was almost a full moon, very little breeze and although there had been some cloud cover it had been a very bright night. By the time we got back to the caravan it was almost midnight and we felt shattered but what a wonderful evening it had been!

The rangers at Mon Repos continued their hugely important work through that night as they will every night throughout the nesting season to give hatchling Loggerhead Turtles more chance of survival and we thank them for allowing us to witness this amazing event.


Additional photos below
Photos: 19, Displayed: 19


Advertisement

The first egg to be retrievedThe first egg to be retrieved
The first egg to be retrieved

Turtle eggs can be handled and moved for up to two hours - after that they don't survive
How many eggs have been laid?How many eggs have been laid?
How many eggs have been laid?

The sex of the hatchlings is determined by the temperature of the sand
171 eggs!171 eggs!
171 eggs!

We'll never know how many will hatch and survive


2nd December 2010

The big 50!
Well done on your 50th blog and what an amazing experience you had to write about. Really interesting to read all about the turtles, they're so gorgeous and how lucky were you to see the whole thing right before your eyes. Fantastic photos x x x

Tot: 0.39s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 18; qc: 74; dbt: 0.165s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.3mb