Did you know that marine turtles nest on Gold Coast beaches? Watergum and Sea World have joined forces to fill the data gap on nesting turtles on the Gold Coast, not just for the appropriate authorities, but also so there will be better response and reporting of local marine strandings.
There are 7 species of sea turtle found worldwide, 6 of which are found in Australia and all are recorded in Gold Coast waters. Marine turtles are reptiles, they crawl up the beach to lay their eggs in the sand. Loggerhead sea turtles and Green sea turtles have both been recorded nesting on Gold Coast beaches.
Marine turtles use both the marine and terrestrial environments to complete different stages in their life cycle, this makes them even more vulnerable to many anthropogenic threats including entanglement, marine debris, ocean pollution, poaching and illegal trade, global warming, predation from domestic animals, and boat strike, just to name a few!
If you would like to become a TurtleWatch walker, please read the information below and email us at turtlewatch@watergum.org
TurtleWatch GC is a partnership between Watergum and Sea World
The Sea World Research & Rescue Foundation is a non-profit organisation dedicated to the understanding and appreciation of the wonderous variety of life in our oceans.
Through in-house research, rescue activities, funding and promoting of independent marine research projects our aim is to understand, protect & support the marine environment for future generations.
Sea turtles have been a big focus of the work Sea World have done and continue to do. Sea Turtle rescue and rehabilitation has been undertaken at Sea World for over 30 years, with well over 1000 sea turtles admitted during this time. They have funded numerous sea turtle studies and have many current, in-house research and data collection activities focused on the protection and conservation of this iconic species.
TurtleWatch Tutorial
How to get involved
Become a TurtleWatch walker!
Do you walk a stretch of the Gold Coast beaches on a regular basis? Great, we need your help! Turtle nesting season starts each year in November and will run until about the end of March and we need the Gold Coast community to watch out and record sightings of turtles and turtle tracks
Before you sign up to become a TurtleWatch walker we will teach you how to spot turtle tracks of a nesting turtle, how to identify the different species and how to enter your data to our TurtleWatch citizen science database.
TurtleWatch training is compulsory and will tell you everything you need to know about marine turtles and about how to conduct a reliable and successful TurtleWatch walk. Training is held monthly at various locations.
For more info please email: turtlewatch@watergum.org
TurtleWatch Walkers, log your data here
Turtles online learning
Report an Injured Turtle
Found an injured or sick turtle? The Sea World Rescue Team’s pioneering work in marine animal rescues has resulted in outstanding success in rehabilitating and saving many sick, injured and stranded animals in the wild.
Call 07 5588 2222 (9:00am to 5:00pm) or 07 5588 2177 (After Hours).
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