Sea turtles nesting in the Sir Edward Pellew Islands, Gulf of Carpentaria, Northern Territory

The northern coastline of Australia supports globally significant populations for at least four species of sea turtles. While Queensland and to a lesser degree Western Australian populations have received considerable attention over the last three decades, there have been few detailed studies of sea turtle rookeries in the Northern Territory. Much of the NT coastline is under the ownership of Aboriginal people, and thus their involvement in any management or conservation of sea turtles is essential. In this study we combined local Aboriginal knowledge with orthodox quantitative sea turtle survey methods to collect baseline information on sea turtle populations in the Sir Edward Pellew Islands (Gulf of Carpentaria). Although four species of sea turtles use these islands for nesting, Flatback (Natator depressus) and Green Turtles (Chelonia mydas) are the most abundant. Nesting appears to be scattered throughout the island with the largest concentration of C. mydas and N. depressus utilising the beach on north-eastern Vanderlin and northern West Island respectively. Hatchling production was high for both species, however the presence of wild dogs and feral cats on West Island may become a management issue for this rookery in future years