On Dunbogan Beach on February 25, a couple from Dunbogan witnessed turtles hatching on the sand. NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) confirmed the hatchlings were the endangered species loggerhead turtles.
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What the public didn’t know was that a second nest, also on Dunbogan Beach, was being kept a closely guarded secret by NPWS to protect the nest.
NPWS posted on their Crowdy Bay National Park Facebook page that the second nest had gone around 25 days overdue on the normal incubation period.
On April 25 2017 NPWS posted that it was now day 100, and a decision was taken to excavate the nest to see what may have happened to the eggs.
“We were unsure whether we were expecting to see lots of failed eggs, or embryos stalled in development, or maybe a lot of empty eggs if they'd hatched without being noticed,” NPWS said.
What they found was surprising and probably extremely lucky.
There was a total of 142 eggs. Eighty-six were still unhatched but appeared to be in good condition, and were transferred to an incubation set-up off site.
Twenty empty egg shells indicated that a reasonable number of hatchlings had actually made their escape to the big blue yonder. But of greatest surprise were the 27 live turtles which had hatched but had been unable to dig their way out.
Once out of the nest (about 50cm below sand surface), and into a tub of sea water, these little ‘dudes’ sparked up and practiced their swimming skills ready for a release early the next day.
NPWS gave “many thanks to the tiny band of locals who helped keep an eye on things and the day’s little rescue mission”.
(Information from Crowdy Head National Park Facebook page used with permission of NPWS.)
