The Department of Environment and Science is trialling techniques to minimise the effects a changing climate is having on marine turtles.
The Department said Mon Repos, the turtle nesting site at Bundaberg in Queensland, was playing a role in the preservation of the endangered loggerhead turtle species.
Head of the research team at Mon Repos, Col Limpus said soaring temperatures and the effects of climate change were having a significant impact on a number of endangered wildlife and their habitat.
“Temperature plays a critical role in the turtle hatchlings cycle,” Dr Limpus said.
“Temperatures impact not only the sex of the turtle, but also the likely survival of marine turtle eggs,” he said.
“Our first hatchlings emerged on 18 December and now more than 100 clutches have hatched on the Woongarra Coast.”
He said the average proportion of eggs producing hatchlings from emerged clutches so far this season was just 55 per cent.
“This is well below the desired level of 80 per cent or above.”
He said elevated sand temperatures above 31 degrees could be enough to reduce the survival of a marine turtle egg, but also result in female-only hatchlings.
“Researchers monitor conditions for the incoming turtles and are trialling a number of techniques to minimise the impact of the impending weather conditions,” he said.
He said the aim was to encourage a mix of both male and female hatchlings.
“In past hatching seasons, we have used shade cloth in a variety of strengths in an effort to bring down temperatures of eggs in the rookery.”
He said this year his team would use artificial rain delivered via sprinklers on a small trial area of beach to test if sand temperatures at nest depth could be manipulated to a desired level.
“If it proves an effective measure, we may encourage its use on turtle nesting sites in the future,” Dr Limpus said.
