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Turtle Awareness
What are we doing?
We raise community awareness of Bribie Island's threatened marine turtles and advocate for best-practice management of the island's nesting beaches and the surrounding Marine Park, to improve their protection.
Why are we doing it?
Bribie is considered a Significant Nest Site for the Critically Endangered Loggerhead Turtle, and the surrounding waters of the Moreton Bay Marine Park are important habitat for Vulnerable Green turtles.
THE TURTLE NESTINGS SEASON extends from the time the first female arrives to lay (maybe as ealy as September/October) through the summer incubation period, until the last hatchlings emerge and depart the beach in late March/early April.
Direct threats to nesting success on Bribie include:
Human-preventable disturbances of nesting females
Nest disturbance and inundation
Light pollution
Egg predation
Obstacles for hatchlings between nest and ocean
Climate change effecting nesting habits
THROUGHOUT THE YEAR marine turtles call the waters around Bribie their home.
Direct threats to marine turtle in Bribie's surrounding waters include:
Vessel Strike
Entanglement (including crab pots/fishing line)
Plastics Ingestion
Poor water quality effecting their health and the health of their habitat.
Climate Change altering their food sources and habitats
Who is involved?
Project Coordinators
Darren Jew
Diane Oxenford
Members
Donna Pearce
Deirdre Reynolds
Lesely Wright
Marja-Lisa Pinci
Narelle Saville
Jean Taplin
Jo Cowan
Mike Watts
Jenny Archer
Fiona Harding
BIEPA commends the work of the following independant volunteer turtle groups, Accredited by the QLD State Government's Queensland Turtle Conservation Program.
Bribie Island Turtle Trackers (Govt accredited volunteer turtle nest monitors and strandings responders who work around the coast and waters of the southern Pumicestone Passage and monitor nesting on Bribie's southern coast as far north as Welsby Lagoon)
Sunshine Coast Turtle Care (Sunshine Coast Council's comprehensive volunteer Citizen Science Project monitors beaches north of Welsby Lagoon)
How are we doing it?
We build community events and social awareness of Bribie Island's marine turtles and the threats imposed on them by humans.
A Need for a Turtle Managment Plan
In the absence of a plan from State or Local Government, we are urgently developing a comprehensive stategy for marine turtle education and protection on, and around Bribie Island, and will call for discussion on its recommendations and adoption.
The Question of Turtle Tourism
Bribie’s small (but critically important) number of nesting loggerhead turtles use suitable spots at random locations along the length of the island's sandy beach, from the SW corner near the Buckley’s Hole conservation park, around Woody Bay and Skirmish Point (the gauntlet of the Dog Off Leash Beach) through Woorim village and the flagged area, all the way up to national park beach (where they deal with tens of thousands of 4wd vehicles each season) to Caloundra–around 36.5 kilometres. Turtle nests are low in density, and randomly spread over a great distance.
Successful Turtle tourism tends to be in areas which attract a high density of animals to compact beaches. Rookeries for example like Mon Repos Conservation Park near Bundaberg which is around 1km long but which hosts hundreds of nests each season so can reliably provide a high quality intensely managed (to avoid disturbance) visitor experience. Bribie Island is not such a location.
How can you help?
Report turtle nesting and hatchling activity: Contact Bribie Island Turtle Trackers immediately.
Report Turtle Strandings: Report sick/injured/stranded turtles (alive or deceased) by contacting BITTs Marine Strandings Volunteers immediately. Bribie Island is fortunate to have on call three accredited Marine Strandings Responders who officially attends stranding events (whales, dolphins, dugongs and turtles) on behalf of QPWS and Council.
Help get action on speed limit reductions in southern Pumicestone Passage by reporting inappropriate actions on the water. See how to report here.
Chat about the threats turtles face within your extended social circles, to help make the broader community aware of the problem, and the need for a comprehensive Turtle Protection Strategy for Bribie Island.
Advocate for wildlife-friendly recreation and sustainable nature-based tourism on and around Bribie Island.
Contribute your spare time and skills to BIEPA Projects.
Learn about the work of the Bribie Island Turtle Trackers (BITTs)
