Baby Turtles Hatching at Mon Repos

each Australian summer under the cover of darkness visitors can witness hatchlings emerging from one of the two largest loggerhead turtle robberies in the South Pacific at Mauna PO beach east of Bundaberg on Queensland's Central Coast it is the largest concentration of nesting marine turtles on Australia's eastern mainland more than a hundred thousand hatchlings have been tagged over 30 years research at Monaco while green leatherback and flat back turtles nest at Mono PO loggerheads make up the majority the loggerhead is the largest species of hardshell turtle and are known as the ancient mariners of the ocean loggerheads are friendly and curious and they are not afraid to approach divers this cheeky male even gives the camera and inquisitive bite with his strong beak the only way to tell males from females is in adulthood when the male has a significantly larger tail the first tiny hatchling emerges from the sand each clutch is made up of between 100 and 150 hatchling while loggerheads nest along 175 kilometres of coast darkness and isolation meaning few of these hatching events are ever seen this makes mom repel the ideal place to see these ancient mariners embark on their epic and perilous journey only one in 1,000 will survive long enough to breed nesting adult turtles are best seen after dark from November to January and hatchlings are best seen from 7 p.m. until midnight from January through March as the hatchlings emerge from the nest they are gathered in a plastic holding area to prevent visitors from stepping on them this also allows the Rangers to count the hatchlings visitors are allowed to touch and photograph five turtles from each clutch to minimize the impact on the population while at the same time promoting conservation through ecotourism the first turtle makes it to the water's edge perhaps this little turtle will be the one that grows up to bite the camera the hatchlings are attracted to the lowest and strongest light source this should be the moon which is why monopole Park Rangers strictly monitor light levels and flash photography once the hatchlings reach the water they did not stop swimming for several days to reach the East Australian current some of the first Turtles tagged by dr. Col impasses team of volunteers between 1968 and 1978 returned to Monaco in 2005 to lay their eggs the introduction of red foxes has had a devastating effect on the loggerhead population in 1970 it was estimated foxes destroyed 95% of clutches on Australia's East Coast and researchers do not expect the population to recover until 2020 the main threats to hatchlings are artificial light predation and habitat loss from coastal development the biggest dangers for adult loggerheads are plastic bags which they mistake for jellyfish one of their favorite foods and fishing gear you can do your part to protect these ancient mariners of the sea by recycling plastic materials switching to reusable shopping bags adopting responsible fishing practices taking part in beach cleanups and supporting conservation efforts you

Channel: DiveAroundTube

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Keywords: turtles, loggerhead, baby, scuba, divearoundtube, dive around, kieren curry, mon repos, hatching, conservation, nature

Id: uOvzBnHyziw

Length: 4min 57sec (297 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 14 2010