Cay sandworks focus on saving sea turtles
A BARGE full of earthmoving machines is making its way to the northernmost part of the Great Barrier Reef to help save the lives of thousands of sea turtles.
Specialist contractors and rangers are heading to Raine Island, about 120km northeast of Cape Grenville on Cape York Peninsula, to move 15,000cu m of sand on the remote island to assist breeding populations of green sea turtles.
The remote sand cay is the world’s largest nesting spot for the endangered turtle species, with about 60,000 coming to shore each year.
However, beach erosion has left large sections of beach inundated during high tides, killing many baby turtles.
A five-year collaboration between private and public sectors to save thousands of eggs from rising water levels has reversed the declining turtle breeding rate.
Raine Island Recovery project manager Tina Alderson said the contractors and rangers would use the equipment and several metres of fencing to make a large section of beach safer for the nesting turtles.
“In that 200m section, every single egg that gets laid in that profiled area will survive,” she said.
“It won’t get inundated by the tides, so it’s a real bonus for the turtles.”
She said a rocky outcrop, known as “Death Rock” – named for the hundreds of turtles that become trapped under its ledge – would be reshaped. Check out the video about the barge operation on www.cairnspost.com.au “The turtles die there, because they flip on to their backs, from heat exhaustion, unless we’re there to rescue them,” she said.
The work on the island will take about four weeks to complete.
Work crews have the assistance of traditional owners and cultural advisers at the site.
Barron River MP Craig Crawford said the unique wildlife operation, which had been hugely successful in previous years, would aim to rescue as many turtles as possible from tidal inundation.
“I think everyone in Cairns is very, very proud of the Department (of Environment and Heritage Protection) for undertaking this work, and heading up there, and getting involved in turtle rescue operations,” he said.
He said he did not know how much the operation would cost but he was not concerned about it.
“It doesn’t matter if this was worth $10,000 or $10 million,” he said.
“I don’t think we can put a price on saving turtle habitat.”
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