Thousands of Baby Sea Turtles Make It to the Ocean

By Rosanne Maloney

ABC Far North

Topic: Conservation

Monday, June 1, 2026, at 1:25 pm

A project to move sea turtle eggs from one island to another has helped more male turtles develop.

In short:

About 82% of the sea turtle eggs that were moved from one island to another have hatched.

The sea turtles that nest on Raine Island are in danger.

What's next?

Researchers will do more tests to see if the baby turtles that hatched are healthy.

Over 9,100 baby sea turtles have started their journey to the ocean after a project to move eggs between two islands worked well.

This is the second time eggs have been moved from Raine Island to Sir Charles Hardy Island to help increase the number of baby turtles and produce more males.

Katherine Robertson from Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service said the latest results are promising.

She said, 'Of those eggs, 82% hatched and the baby turtles made it to the water.'

Researchers collect eggs as soon as they are laid by female turtles.

Raine Island is the largest nesting site for green sea turtles, with up to 100,000 females nesting there each year.

However, rising sea levels and climate change are threatening the turtles on Raine Island.

The turtle eggs are being destroyed by higher sea levels, and the rising tides are creating steep slopes that the baby turtles struggle to climb.

Researchers are collecting green sea turtle eggs on Raine Island.

The temperature of the sand also affects the sex of the baby turtles, with warmer sand meaning fewer males.

'This population is almost entirely female,' said Ms. Robertson.

In the first trial in 2024, teams moved 3,000 eggs from 38 nests, and 70% of them hatched successfully.

This summer, researchers moved almost 9,000 eggs from more than 100 nests.

The eggs are placed in dug-out nests under a shade on Sir Charles Hardy Island.

The eggs were carefully collected by researchers on Raine Island before being put into special bags to pause their development.

The eggs were then taken by boat to Sir Charles Hardy Island, where they were reburied under a custom shade structure.

This lowered the sand temperature by about 1.5 degrees Celsius, helping to create conditions to produce some male turtles.

Scientists use special bags to pause the development of the eggs.

This work is part of the Raine Island Recovery Project, which has been running for over a decade to improve the future of the green turtle population.

Protecting culture and environment

Sir Charles Hardy Island is in Wuthathi country, while Raine Island is in both Wuthathi and Meriam countries.

Meriam Nation elder Falen Pasi said the project is helping to protect a species that is deeply connected to culture and identity.

Falen Pasi says turtles are culturally significant to his people.

'Turtles for Indigenous people are very significant and spiritual,' he said.

'Where I come from, it's our totem.'

Mr. Pasi said the project shows the value of combining traditional knowledge with scientific research.

The true knowledge has got to be shared between traditional knowledge and Western science.

About 90% of the endangered species nests on Raine Island.

Wuthathi Tribal Elder chair Johnson Chippendale said traditional owners spent years working with scientists to find solutions.

Mr. Chippendale said protecting turtles means protecting future generations.

'It's really about saving the species,' he said.

About 2,000 adult turtles have died during one nesting season on Raine Island, many after falling.

Looking beyond hatching success

James Cook University researcher Caitlin Smith said the success rate of the hatchings is in line with other healthy nesting beaches.

'Hatching success from those relocated clutches is phenomenal,' she said.

Caitlin Smith has been working on a similar egg relocation project for loggerhead turtles.

Dr. Smith is also leading separate but similar research for loggerhead turtles at a key rookery near Bundaberg.

Her project is now examining whether successfully relocated hatchlings are as physically fit as turtles produced in nests left untouched.

Dr. Smith said research in Indonesia found that while nest relocation was crucial for protecting sea turtle eggs, it could reduce the fitness of new turtles.

Caitlin Smith tests the fitness of relocated hatchlings using a course she calls the 'turtle Olympics'.

Her team has created what they call a 'turtle Olympics', measuring size, swimming ability, and crawling speed alongside other factors to better understand their chances of surviving long-term.

Results are not yet available, but she said producing more hatchlings is only one piece of the puzzle.

'We also need to be thinking about the quality of the hatchlings as well,' she said.

Monday, June 1, 2026, at 1:25 pm

Monday, June 1, 2026, at 1:43 pm

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