Ningaloo Turtle Program

Only 1 week left to get your application in! Closing date 1st August. Apply now for a summer of turtley awesome turtle monitoring at Ningaloo :)

And just a reminder, this is for out-of-town volunteers. We'll be advertising in October for local Exmouth volunteers.

We are seeking external volunteers, APPLICATIONS ARE OPEN!

Want to join the NTP for 2024/25?
Watch this video to see what NTP is all about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dorO_8SkAg
Then visit www.ningalooturtles.org.au for all the information on how to apply!!
Applications close 1 August 2024.
ANYONE CAN APPLY, no prior experience needed!

(Photo - some of last years' volunteers learning how to interpret turtle tracks - this could be you!)

We are seeking external volunteers, APPLICATIONS ARE OPEN!

Want to join the NTP for 2024/25?
Watch this video to see what NTP is all about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dorO_8SkAg
Then visit www.ningalooturtles.org.au for all the information on how to apply!!
Applications close 1 August 2024.
ANYONE CAN APPLY, no prior experience needed!

(Photo - some of last years' volunteers learning how to interpret turtle tracks - this could be you!)

It's National Volunteer Week!!
Without volunteers, there would be no Ningaloo Turtle Program, so we'd like to give a HUGE shout out to all the volunteers past and present who have helped make the NTP what it is! 22 years and counting. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!

All done for season #22 of the NTP. And hooley dooley what a season! Over 38,300 tracks counted, including 6197 nests! A huge thank you to our local Exmouth volunteers who finished off the post-peak monitoring for the season. Combined with our external volunteers from all over Australia, we recorded 3288 volunteer hours.

Now onto the data analysis, stay tuned for an update to see if this season was the biggest ever!

Don't touch the hatchlings means don't touch the hatchlings!!! No, they don't need to be dug out of their nest cos they are stuck. No, they don't need to be carried to the water. They know what to do!

It is vitally important that hatchlings make their own way to the water, as this is when they clear their lungs of mucus and get their front flippers working. They need to hit the water fit and strong, ready to evade predatory fish. They also take a magnetic imprint of the earth, so they can navigate properly and end up back here to nest. So please admire from a distance and let them make their own way to the water.
(p.s. its actually illegal to handle them too!)

Photo: green turtle hatchlings erupting from a nest along the Jurabi Coast.

And just like that our volunteers have finished up peak season monitoring and have headed back to different corners of the country! ☺️

And talk about busy turtles! In total our superstar vollies counted 4,907 nests and 28,349 false crawls 🐢

During the season our vollies got a workout rescuing THIRTY FIVE turtles stuck in precarious situations on the North West Cape.

Our local volunteers have continued to monitor turtle activity for the subsequent weekends while our turtles continue to nest on our beaches outside of peak season 🌊

To our volunteers that make it happen WE THANK YOU! 🫶

Hey conservation warriors! This peak season is creating a lot of crawling traffic on our beaches, how exciting!

If you come across a Turtle emerging from the water or returning there's a few simple things we can do to protect these beautiful species:

1. STOP, DROP AND ACT LIKE A ROCK 🪨
2. Stay 15m away from any emerging turtle, and out of her line of sight 👀
3. In the evenings, NO GLOW 📱 Turtles are sensitive to light and bright lights will confuse and distract them
4. Please leave your dog at home 🐶

Watching Turtles emerge and return is a wonderful experience. Slow down, sit down and take in the full experience watching the wonder of nature without causing disturbance 🐢

Check out this video below for a comprehensive guide of the Turtle watching code of conduct:

Turtle Watching Code of Conduct Learn how to view nesting turtles without disturbing them

Full moon nesting activity, look at our girls go! We wish you all a magical nesting New Year!

Ningaloo Reef has been busy with activity, you can see here some turtles are laying so close they are flicking sand into each others nest, a little bit counter-productive if you ask us 😂

Slowly up and slowly down, it's a big effort for our turtles to emerge, nest and return. The process can take from 1-3 hours.

Nesting can be a beautiful thing to witness and there's a few things we can do to not disturb these endangered species:

No Glow: Keep your phone and torch away! Light will distract them 📱
Move Slow: Just like our lovely ladies, slow and steady wins the race ⏰
Stay Low: Get on your hands and knees to move around the beach to avoid appearing as a threat 🧎‍♀️

After finishing their body pit and egg chamber, the turtles will go into a trance to lay. Now is when you may carefully crawl behind her and view the egg laying process. You may use 🔴Red Light🔴 for better vision if you wish 🔦

*This photo is a long exposure, no flash was used.

NTP are two weeks into our peak season monitoring, which means we are at the half way mark!

In the last two weeks our external volunteers have been busy monitoring tracks daily. The 20km stretch is averaging over 1000 tracks each day! That's a lot of crawlin' 🐢

Over the last two weeks the team have received a Welcome to Country by Baiyungu elder Hazel, had a big sleep out at our remote camp Bungelup, and been on a boat tour with Yardie Creek tours and celebrated Christmas 🎄

It's been big, but we've been sure to fit a few naps in between all of that 😴

Bring on the next two 💪

The Turtles on Ningaloo are getting into the festive spirit this year! 🎅

Merry Christmas from NTP, we hope you have a turtley awesome Christmas filled with food and presents 🎁

If you are on any nesting beaches over Christmas this year remember the best gift you can give to our girls is 15 metres of space and crouching down while they emerge and return to the water 🌊 🐢🎄

Happy International Volunteers Day!!

🐢 On , let's shell-ebrate the incredible volunteers dedicating their time and passion to our NTP! Your commitment is helping protect these majestic creatures and their habitats. 🌊🙌

Thank you for making a splash in conservation! 🐢💙

The NTP Team Leaders for the 2023-24 season have arrived and have dived head first into a big training schedule before peak season monitoring begins!

Our training equips our leaders with the knowledge to recognise and identify different types of turtle species by their tracks, a successful nest, the presence of predator tracks and how to know if a turtle needs a helping flipper! 🐢

Well someone forgot to tell the turtles it's not peak season yet!! What a huge weekend for our local Exmouth NTP volunteers. Hundreds and hundreds of tracks to record already and it's only mid November. A huge effort by everyone who helped out - Thank you! We're in for a cracker of a season!

Calling all Exmouth locals!!! We need your help!
We're seeking enthusiastic and reliable Exmouth locals to join the Ningaloo Turtle Program. If early morning beach walks and contributing to a long-running turtle monitoring program sound good to you, then check out the flyer below and get in touch! No experience necessary, we provide all the training you need.
Training starts 24th Oct.

She’s not stranded, she’s resting!

When female turtles are on the beach during the day, they are resting and avoiding unwanted attention from male turtles during mating season.

Encouraging or pushing turtles back into the water does NOT help them. It puts them back into the situation they are trying to avoid!

They are very easily spooked by people walking along the beach.
Remember – stay low, move slow, stay out of their line of sight at least 15m away and let them rest. Let’s not disturb our threatened turtles.

We want you!! Applications close 1 August. No prior experience needed!

We are seeking volunteers, applications are open!

Want to join the NTP for 2023/24? Check out the flyer below and watch this video to see what NTP is all about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dorO_8SkAg

Then visit www.ningalooturtles.org.au for all the information on how to apply!!
Applications close 1 August.
ANYONE CAN APPLY, no prior experience needed!

Hey! Interested in some of our results from the last turtle monitoring season? Check out our season 2022/23 infographic below.

If you want to be a part of the 2023/24 Ningaloo Turtle Program, applications for volunteers are now open! See our website for details www.ningalooturtles.org.au

We are seeking volunteers, applications are open!

Want to join the NTP for 2023/24? Check out the flyer below and watch this video to see what NTP is all about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dorO_8SkAg

Then visit www.ningalooturtles.org.au for all the information on how to apply!!
Applications close 1 August.
ANYONE CAN APPLY, no prior experience needed!

All done and dusted for season 22/23!! A huge thank you to the local Exmouth volunteers who helped us wrap up the season throughout January and February. We couldn't do this without you!!
On behalf of the turtles, thank you, and we hope to see you all back for the 23/24 season starting early November.

Today our external volunteers head home, returning to each corner of Australia.
A huge thank you for the effort, time and passion all of you have brought to this season. It has been an unforgettable experience, and many of you are the reason.
Our local volunteers will cover 3 more weekends finishing out our 2022-2023 nesting season by the end of February.
To everyone involved, we just want to say an enormous THANK YOU!

And just like that, our final day of peak period monitoring is over.

4 weeks of daily turtle tracking; identifying tracks, nests and false crawls. We still have a few weekends to go with the help of our wonderful local volunteers.
And there’s still a chance to see these wonderful animals on the beaches in the mornings or evenings.
If you’re lucky you might even see some hatchlings!
Just remember, when you’re on the beaches, follow the code of conduct, and STOP, DROP, ACT LIKE A ROCK!

New year, new turtles!

We’re starting to see hatchlings on our beaches! If you’re one of the lucky ones who get to see any, remember,

LET THEM FLOW!

To give our hatchlings the best chance possible when they reach the ocean it’s really important they are able to make the trek across the beach uninterrupted.

Please do not handle hatchlings.

Carrying hatchlings to the water can disorientate them greatly and puts them at even more risk when they’re in the ocean.

They need to do the crawl themselves to clear their lungs, get their muscles working and take a geomagnetic imprint of the beach, so they know to return here to nest 30 years later!

So, keep your torches off and keep their path clear.

Tomorrow we're hoping you'll join us at the Exmouth Public Library on from 11am - 2pm!

We’re going to be talking about our local turtles and have some fun free activities for the kids!

We’re hoping to see lots of people aged 5 – 12 attend!

Adult supervision is required.

You can book your space here!

https://www.eventbrite.com/.../ningaloo-turtle-program...

Hope to see lots of you there!

If you want to see turtles in the wild, we can recommend nowhere better than Jurabi Turtle Centre at Ningaloo!
Full of helpful information to ensure you can see turtles nesting safely, for both you and the turtles.
Check out a guided tour and visit the Jurabi Turtle Centre.

https://exploreparks.dbca.wa.gov.au/site/jurabi-turtle-centre

Tracking turtles can be tricky work early in the morning for our NTP volunteer ‘turtle trackers’.
Tracks crisscross over each other, climb high up dunes and plough through dense bushes.
It can get even more difficult when we add footprints to this puzzle!

We’d love your help keeping the tracks nice and clear first thing in the morning.
If you see a fresh track on the beach, please try to avoid walking on it.
That way our turtle trackers can have the best possible chance to identify each turtle track!

Can you spot the difference?

Sea turtles see the world very differently from us.
Their eyes are perfect for seeing underwater with great detail, but on land, they can struggle to make out definition.
That’s why it’s so important we,

STOP, DROP & ACT LIKE A ROCK.

If we stay low and stay still, most turtles will struggle to tell us apart from the rocks on the beach.
That way we can enjoy seeing turtles on the beach, without disturbing them.

To our volunteers on the beaches, our friends and families at home and, of course, all of the turtles.

🎄🎅 Merry Christmas! 🎅🎄

This has been a magnificent season so far, and we’re sure it’ll only get better!
Thank you for your work and support over these past weeks.
We hope everyone, has a wonderful holiday season!

Some turtles can find themselves stuck in the rocks and it can take hours for us to free them.
This girl was not one of those turtles, however!
This lovely lady had gotten herself wedged in a small crevice between the rocks, so our team gave her a helping hand up and over.
Lifting over 100kgs of turtle is never easy, but our team excelled as always.
So, she was able to safely return to the ocean!

If you find a turtle stuck in rocks at Ningaloo, please contact the DBCA Exmouth office on 9947 8000.

Looking for something to do in January with the kids?

Join us at the Exmouth Public Library on January 5th from 11am - 2pm!

We’re going to be talking about our local turtles and have some fun free activities for the kids!

We’re hoping to see lots of people aged 5 – 12 attend!
Adult supervision is required.

You can book your space here!

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ningaloo-turtle-program-turtle-talks-tickets-491480530497

Hope to see lots of you there!