In a first for eastern Australia, M&DTW volunteers have recorded evidence of an olive ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) nesting.
The turtle nested on Campwin Beach just south of Mackay in early December 2023. The hatchlings emerged in early February 2024.Dr Col Limpus (Chief Scientific Officer for the Qld Aquatic Threatened Species Program) has confirmed that the MDTWteam recorded the 1st evidence of olive ridley nesting in eastern Australia after 50 years of widespread monitoring of turtle nesting.
The majority of the turtles that lay on Mackay mainland beaches are flatbacks (Natator depressus) with some greens (Chelonia mydas) and these turtles have a breaststroke (symmetrical) gait.In rare instances, loggerheads (Caretta caretta), which have an alternate (asymmetrical) gait, have nested on Mackay beaches.
The Campwin turtle had an alternate gait which would normally indicate a loggerhead turtle. However, a review of photos of the hatchlings showed the olive ridley characteristic of 6 or more pairs of large scales on both sides (costal scales) on the carapaces.
Dr Limpus said “the closest olive ridley nesting within the Coral Sea region is in the eastern Solomon Islands. We have a few hundred olive ridleys nesting annually on western Cape York Peninsula – mostly south of Weipa”
How incredible!!!!!!!