Volunteers continue their work to help the turtle population thrive in the Cooloola Coast saving eggs and relocating nests during recent high tides and strong winds.
Members of Cooloola Coastcare – Turtle Care recently relocated a clutch of 99 Loggerhead Turtle eggs after a mother had nested on the very fragile dune along the Inskip beach stretch.
“The nest was in a vulnerable spot able to be impacted by high tides, bad weather and increased 4WD traffic,“ Jan Waters said.
“Relocating the eggs is a delicate operation carried out by our authorised turtle carers.
“The eggs are carefully removed and replaced in the new nest in the same order they were laid and care is taken to create the new nest nearly identical to the original.“
The model in the photo shows a cross section of a Green turtle nest – the egg chamber and emerging hatchlings.
“We try not to shake, spin, roll or rotate the egg. The turtle egg has a membrane that the developing embryo attaches to the egg wall during growth.
“If the egg spins, it can detach from the wall and prevent the embryo from developing.“
“We put them back in the same order so as not to interfere with the rate of development.“
Jan said they wanted to stress again to anyone driving on the beach not to drive on the dunes.“
For any sightings or to volunteer please contact Joan on 0407 810 510 or Jan on 0429 481 490 from Cooloola Coast Care – Turtle Care.
