Turtle monitoring underway

The turtle season for ranger groups from Kowanyama, Napranum and Mapoon is well-underway with Cape York NRM WCTTAA Coordinator Manuela Fischer on hand and on the ground to assist where and when necessary.

“Each year I try to visit all of the six WCTTAA Ranger groups and spend some time with them in the field while they're doing their turtle monitoring,” Manuela said.

“It’s a good time to engage, to make sure they’re up to speed with all the apps and equipment we are using, to see how they operate, identify any needs or challenges, or what might be needed in future in terms of funding.”

She said everywhere was different.

“I spent 4 nights in Pormpuraaw, where they weren’t yet camping, so we did day trips to the beaches.

“From there I went to Napranum, and then Mapoon.

“In Napranum I was able to join the aerial shoot funded through the Nest to Ocean Turtle Protection program.

“It was really good to fly around and get an idea of how it’s done and to just see the country from the air, it was amazing.

She said every ranger group was funded through the Nest to Ocean Turtle Protection program to do the shoots twice a year – before and after the turtle nesting season.

“This month they will start their aerial shooting training with Seymour Out Bush, so the Napranum Rangers were already in the chopper to get a feel for how it’s done,” she said.

“In Mapoon we were joined by the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, who have been running a research program there for 14 years, spending time with the Rangers doing their turtle monitoring.

“Some ranger group do four weeks of turtle camps every year, and all of the six groups work around a similar time frame over about three months, from July through to October to monitor turtles during the peak turtle nesting season.”

She said a separate research project in logging nest temperatures was also well underway.

“We did a trial on that last year at Pennefather Beach and this year we are dropping the temperature data loggers into the nest chamber as the female is laying.

“Then we cover the nest with the protection cages the Rangers have built themselves, and cover those cages with shade cloth, to drop the temperature in the nest.”

She said from now to the end of October she would be going from group to group until the season was over.

“It’s good to have the opportunity to engage with the Ranger groups making sure the next round of funding will be targeted to their requirements and what they need to get the work done,” she said.

The WCTTAA is supported by Cape York NRM through funding from the Australian and Queensland Government’s Nest to Ocean Turtle Protection Program, Marine Turtle Climate Change Resilience and the Queensland Feral Pest Initiative.