TURTLE FUTURES

Northern Territory waters are graced by six of the world’s seven marine turtle species – green

(Chelonia mydas), olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea), hawksbill

(Eretmochelys imbricata),

leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), flatback

(Natator depressus),

and loggerhead (Caretta caretta).

Marine biologist Carol Palmer (above) has been studying them and other Top End marine megafauna for decades – and she doesn’t like the look of the future.

“Certainly traditional owners and rangers are worried about the numbers of turtles and green turtles in particular,” she says.

Palmer thinks the population reductions are probably down to some clear changes. “Definitely, sea level rise, and sea temperature rise.”

She says more and more rangers in these remote locations are talking about sea level rise.

“It was their parents or their grandparents or their great-grandparents who know these areas,” she says. “And we could be just talking about small little islands, or many of the beaches.

“But also the temp rise with the nesting turtles. This is coming out more and more certainly... for the green turtles, which is what we’re focusing on, and the hawksbills.

“The temperature is really, really increasing here in the Northern Territory, and that means that of the eggs that hatch, 99% are going to be female and 1% male.”

Once pristine, many of the beaches (opposite top) in the Wessels group are littered with marine debris, mainly plastic products, which wind and currents swirl from the north into the Gulf of Carpentaria, then across the Top End and out to the Indian Ocean. Traditional owners are deeply worried – the problem now outstrips the ability and resources of many communities to manage. In spite of the marine waste, waters surrounding the Wessels (opposite bottom) are rich with coral and marine life and much clearer than the murky waters near Darwin.