The first flatback turtle has arrived on the shores of the Department of Environment and Science’s (DES) Mon Repos Conservation Park, 30 days before the first night tour of the season.
The Department said the turtle’s early return was expected to herald a significant year for Bundaberg tourism, with the nightly tours often welcoming 12,000 visitors each season.
The DES said to mark the arrival of the first turtle, Bundaberg had a long-standing tradition of ringing church bells, which occurred on 12 October at St Peter’s Anglican Church, Bargara.
Minister for the Environment, Meaghan Scanlon said the ringing of the bells would be music to the ears of tourism operators, with the local economy recovering from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’ve been prepping for this much-loved time of the year with the installation of 446 new solar panels to power the popular Mon Repos tourism destination almost entirely off renewable energy,” Ms Scanlon said.
Acting Ranger in Charge at Mon Repos, Nicole Murnane said the ringing of the bells was based on an ancient Scottish tradition to welcome fishing boats returning to port.
“Now, the sound of peeling bells is a tradition that Bundaberg locals and tourists look forward to each year to signal the start of the turtle season,” Mrs Murnane said.
“We’re hoping the bells will herald another busy nesting season as last year 352 turtles migrated to nest on the Woongarra Coast and more than 12,000 people joined in our turtle tours at Mon Repos.”
She said the success of nesting and hatching turtles at Mon Repos was critical for the survival of the endangered loggerhead turtle.
