FIRST STEPS
Michael’s College Year 10 geography students at St into tiny have been given a unique glimpse of life. loggerhead turtles’ first fragile minutes
YEAR 10 geography students at St Michael’s College have been given a unique glimpse into tiny loggerhead turtles’ first fragile minutes of life.
The pupils travelled to Bundaberg to take part in the Mon Repos Turtle Encounter which monitors the hatching of the turtles, protects them from predators and helps them reach the ocean.
Student Lachlan Bernaldo was enthusiastic about the trip and said it was worth the fivehour drive to start the adventure.
“We arrived at Elouera girl scouts’ camp at about 5pm and the turtle encounter was only around the corner, so we didn’t have to drive far to get there,” he said. “We had time to get some interviews done with tourists from Australia and other parts of the world about why we had come to Mon Repos.”
Lachlan said Mon Repos Beach had a few recreational lights to help the endangered species get safely to the water and each nest had a fence around it to protect it from predators.
“We learnt that the most common species which lays eggs there is the loggerhead turtle, as well as fatbacks and green turtles,” he said.
“Each nest contains about 127 eggs and on our first night there, we saw loggerheads hatching. The following night, we were lucky enough to see turtles hatching from three different nests.
“That meant about 383 turtles were led to the ocean in one night,” he said.
“It’s important for all the turtles to get to the ocean safely because they are an endangered species on the verge of becoming extinct.
“Unfortunately, only one out of every 1000 turtles that hatches comes back the same beach to lay its eggs, so that their life cycle continues.”
Lachlan said he highly recommend a trip to Mon Repos – a first for St Michael’s.
“It’s such a great experience to see little, baby turtles hatch and make their way to the ocean one by one and I had an amazing time.”
Kalani Booker agreed and said she enjoyed helping get some of the baby turtles safely to the sea.
“We also learned how easy it is to keep turtles safe in the ocean by recycling, putting rubbish in the bin and reducing how much we pollute the earth,” she said.
“This is so important because it helps make sure the baby turtles survive long enough to reproduce.”
Geography teacher Caragh Nelson said the trip was organised so that students could have first-hand experience observing environmental management techniques to protect the endangered loggerhead species.
“During our two-day stay, our students learnt about the ecology of these turtles and a highlight for them was helping the hatchlings reach the ocean safely,” she said. “It was also an opportunity for students to gather empirical data, which they will use to develop numeracy skills associated with representation and analysis.” Miss Nelson said the trip had had a positive impact on the students as they were able to work alongside rangers, take part in environmental management and engage in loggerhead turtle protection.
“This all helped our students see how important it is to protect endangered species.”
She said students had learnt how to make a difference to pollution and information about waste, recycling and its impact, locally and globally, would be presented at school assemblies by those who attended the excursion. Their presentations will fit in with the school’s goal to enhance sustainable practices in 2018.