Flatback Turtles Occur in Australia

Flatback shells are wide with turned- up edges, covered by a thin fleshy skin and measure up to one metre long at adulthood. The colour is usually yellow-grey or olive-grey, with the underside a pale yellow. Flatbacks are a medium-sized marine turtle and can weigh up to 90kg. Hatchlings are olive-green with scutes (the plates on the shell) outlined in black. When they emerge they are usually larger than other marine turtle hatchlings and weigh around 43 grams. Where do they live? All recorded rookeries (nesting beaches) for flatback turtles occur in Australia. The largest flatback rookery is on Crab Island just off the Northwest Introduction coast of Cape York Peninsula, CONSERVATION STATUS Flatbacks only nest on northern Australia. Annual nesting numbers in the order of 1000 to 2000 female Australian Government: Australian beaches. However they sometimes travel as far as the turtles a year have been recorded. VULNERABLE Indonesian archipelago and the Mating in the shallow water adjacent Environment Protection and to the island has been observed, Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 Papua New Guinea coast to feed. and the waters are likely to be an Queensland: Did you know? important breeding location. VULNERABLE Female flatback turtles lay approximately The turtles are unique in many Nature Conservation Act 1992 50 eggs per nest, the fewest of any ways. Unlike other sea turtle species Western Australia: marine turtle, but the eggs are quite large flatbacks do not spend years out at VULNERABLE compared to the species’ body size. sea and remain in the surface waters Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 of the continental shelf. They prefer What do they look like? inshore waters and bays where their The flatback turtle gets its name from feeding ground is the shallow, soft- its relatively flat, smooth shell – other bottomed seabed. marine turtles have a high domed shell. Image credit: www.hermonslade.org.au 1930s 1950s 1970s 1990s 2000s 2008+ Tasmanian tiger Pig footed bandicoot Carnaby s black cockatoo Gilbert s potoroo Flatback turtle What s going to be EXTINCT EXTINCT ENDANGERED CRITICALLY ENDANGERED VULNERABLE NEXT...? Flatback turtle life Coastal development What you can do history and ecology Increasing coastal development, • If you have a feral pig problem Flatback turtles nest on tropical beaches particularly large oil and gas facilities, in your area, contact your state and offshore islands in Western are likely to place increased pressure or territory government agency Australia, the Northern Territory, the on important flatback habitat in the for information about the most Gulf of Carpentaria and all the way northwest of Australia. Light pollution appropriate control technique. round to Mon Repos in Queensland. is also a threat as it causes hatchlings The nesting season usually occurs to become disorientated and • Make sure no nets, equipment between November and January, but in sometimes trapped. or rubbish is lost overboard when the Northern Territory it can be all year fishing or boating. Climate change round with a peak season in August. • Be aware of turtles in the water Increasing sand temperatures due to Flatbacks have the smallest migratory and avoid excessive boat speeds climate change are skewing the ratio range of any marine turtle species, that may result in turtle injuries. between male and female hatchlings. though they do make long trips to The sex of a turtle hatchling is • Don’t drive on known breed. While in the sea the turtles temperature dependant with warmer nesting beaches. spend much of their time at the surface sands producing females and cooler basking in the sun. • If you are on or near a nesting beach sand producing males. In extreme at night, be careful not to disturb temperatures baby turtles die. Threats to the flatback turtle nesting turtles especially as they are coming up the beach, as this may Generally the impact of threats remains Case Study – Protecting the prevent them from laying eggs. unquantified and little information is turtles of Cape York available on the status of flatback •n E sure appropriate lights are fitted Flatback and Olive Ridley turtles on populations outside of Queensland. around beaches used by turtles, western Cape York are in trouble. or consider replanting vegetation Adult turtles are being entangled and Feral predators to shade nesting beaches from drowned in ghost nets and a large Flatback turtle eggs are eaten by light pollution. population of feral pigs are predating on a range of predators, including foxes, 90 per cent of the nests found there. • Contact your state or territory dogs and pigs. government conservation agency A lack of knowledge about marine Pigs have an excellent sense of smell if you find a stranded, injured or turtle ecology and biology, along and can easily find buried turtle eggs and entangled turtle. with the remoteness of many of the dig them out of the sand. In particular beaches they nest on, is hindering the • Help the flatback turtle by reporting feral pigs are responsible for high development of effective and culturally any activities that you see that levels of flatback turtle nest predation acceptable marine turtle conservation are likely to harm them or their on Cape York Peninsula beaches. On in the region. habitat to the Department of the some beaches feral pigs are feeding Environment, Water, Heritage and on 90 per cent of the eggs laid. In 2005, a TSN Community Grant the Arts – Compliance Branch. funded the Western Cape York Turtle Visit www.environment.gov.au/epbc/ Bycatch and marine debris Conservation Project. Volunteers and compliance/index.html or freecall Flatback and other marine turtles can be community members worked with 1800 110 for more information. killed or injured when caught as ‘bycatch’ rangers to monitor nesting turtles. in commercial fishing operations, Night patrols along 42 kilometres through getting tangled in discarded of beach, traditional country of the Contacts ‘ghost’ fishing nets and drowning and Yupungathi people, identified nests ingestion of marine debris. which were then protected with feral TSN Coordinator: pig exclusion devices. Northern Savannas Flatback turtles from the Gulf of WWF-Australia Carpentaria and North West Shelf The information collected will be used are affected by indigenous harvest in the development of a sustainable P (08) 8941 7554 for meat. Flatback turtles from management strategy for the region E [email protected] Queensland have also been affected so that the future for these threatened W www.wwf.org.au/tsn by boat strikes. turtles can be secured. Reference Marine Species Section Approvals and Wildlife Division, Environment Australia in consultation with the Marine Turtle Recovery Team, (2003) ‘Recovery Plan for Marine Turtles in Australia.’ .

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