Green Turtles on Seven Mile Beach
Photo: Louise Southerden
Article courtesy of Lennox Head Landcare
By S Web
That’s right folks, they’re here! Green, Hawksbill and Loggerhead turtles are all locals around Lennox Head and guess what? - they’ve been here for more than 100 million years.
You’ll often see Green turtles swimming in the Boat Channel and the Bream Hole at Lennox Head but you might be surprised to know that they have nested on Seven Mile Beach too. If you’re really lucky, you might just see their tell-tale crawls on the sand because they generally nest at night between November and January.
The Queensland coast and the Barrier Reef islands are their usual haunts but they’ve nested here before and there have been few ‘false crawls’ seen this year. A false crawl occurs when a turtle crawls up a beach but fails to make a nest, so there’s a chance we might have nests on Seven Mile Beach this year.
Hatching occurs from January to March and it’s an uphill struggle from the get-go for these tenacious little reptiles. First, they must pry their way to the surface (this often takes hours), then orient themselves toward the sea, run the gauntlet of predators and avoid the baking summer sun. Problems lie everywhere. Birds, goannas, foxes and wild dogs all take a toll. Even off-leash domestic dogs pose a problem.
Four-wheel-drive vehicles also present a hazard. They can easily destroy an entire nest so it’s vitally important to stay well away from the foredune. Even deep tyre tracks can obstruct hatchlings causing them to crawl along the tracks rather than directly into the sea. And then there are the sea predators and floating plastics; it’s no wonder only one in a thousand hatchlings make it to reproductive age.
And here are some other interesting facts about Green turtles:
Their eggs are ping pong ball-sized
They don’t reproduce until 40-45 years old
Female hatchlings emerge from warm nests, males from cool nests
Some turtles come from as far away as the Solomon Islands, PNG and Noumea
They can stay under water for 2-3 hours
Their fatty tissue is pale green due to the chlorophyll in the seaweed they eat.
And, a few friendly Green turtle tips. They don’t like being disturbed while laying so please stay well away if you see one. Keep four-wheel-drive vehicles well below high tide level or better still, consider not driving on Seven Mile Beach between November and March. Youngsters emerge between January and March, so leash your pooch before it pounces.
Green turtles can only survive and return to Seven Mile Beach to nest again if we consider their safety first, after all, it’s their beach too.
If you’re interested in volunteering to help protect Green turtles, contact turtlewatchnsw@gmail.com or Australian Seabird & Turtle Rescue in Ballina.