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Hundreds of turtles on remote Great Barrier Reef island saved

A tiny island in a remote northern part of the Great Barrier Reef has been instrumental in helping to save hundreds of green turtles.

Feb 23, 2022, updated Feb 23, 2022
Image: Great Barrier Reef Foundation

Image: Great Barrier Reef Foundation

And from the rehabilitated island, hundreds of thousands of tiny hatchlings have scurried into the ocean.

The 27 hectare place is Raine Island, in Wuthathi Sea Country and Meriam Nations sea country, 620 km north of Cairns.

It is potentially the most important green turtle rookery in the world.

Queensland’s Environment and Science Minister, Meaghan Scanlon, said that during a good season up to 100,000 green turtles nest on the island each year.

The Raine Island Recovery Project, which kicked off in 2015, aimed to restore and protect the island and help prevent turtle deaths after they had laid their eggs.

As part of the project, about 40,000 cubic metres of sand was moved by heavy machinery to reprofile 35,000 square metres of nesting beach and raise it.

“The beach reprofiling works have doubled the amount of viable nesting habitat, saving hundreds of thousands of turtle eggs from being drowned by tidal inundation each nesting season,” Scanlon said.

And 1750 metres of custom-made turtle proof fencing had been installed to prevent the nesting turtles from falling from cliffs.

She said dedicated turtle rescue crews had ensured that turtles which came ashore at sunrise were returned to the ocean before dying from heat exhaustion on the island and this had saved the lives of 696 nesting turtles.

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Wuthathi Aboriginal Corporation chairman Keron Murry said Raine Island was ecologically and culturally important.

“We have ensured this huge logistical undertaking was not taken lightly or impacted the island’s integrity or our culture by having Wuthathi and Meriam Nation cultural heritage advisors on site to supervise the large-scale sand reprofiling works,” Murray said.

Great Barrier Reef Foundation managing director Anna Marsden said the project had achieved a remarkable turnaround in the green turtle population.

“Because of the project, an additional 640,000 endangered green turtles have already begun life on the Great Barrier Reef, with an additional 4.6 million hatchlings expected to start life on the reef over the next 10 years,” Marsden said.

“Saving the reef and all its marine life including turtles is a huge task, but the success of the Raine Island Recovery Project shows that by bringing together science, business, government, reef managers and traditional owners, we can make an impact.”

The project was a partnership between the Queensland Government, traditional owners, the GBR Marine Park Authority, BHP and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.

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