An incredibly rare Loggerhead turtle came ashore on the NSW Mid North Coast to lay her precious egg cargo, which has now been moved to safety by NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service’s marine wildlife team.
Long sandy tracks led NSW National Park and Wildlife Service (NPWS) staff and NSW Turtle Watch volunteers to the nest that had been laid in a precarious position in the open last week. It’s the first known turtle nesting of the season in NSW.
With forecast king tides peaking at 1.95m on Friday and above 2m after Christmas, it looked more likely than not the eggs could be inundated or washed away.
The nest, carrying 139 eggs, was carefully excavated and the eggs were transported to a new nest site that perfectly replicated the original, well outside the king tide mark.
A group of dedicated volunteers and NPWS staff will monitor the site and protect it from predation and accidental disturbance.
If all goes well, the hatchlings should emerge at the end of summer. In NSW, Loggerhead turtle eggs typically take 75 to 90 days to hatch, depending on the temperature of the nest.
Loggerhead turtles are listed as an endangered species in NSW and in the last 10 years, only 19 have been recorded nesting on our beaches.
Relocating eggs from a turtle nest is a tricky business and is only done when the original nest location is deemed non-viable or under threat. Marine turtle nests aren’t common and survival of the nest is never guaranteed, so these actions to intervene early will continue to give this nest a fighting chance.
