The concerning side effect of lack of rain on our turtles
WHILE Master Reef Guide Natalie Lobartolo hasn't witnessed the above average temperatures taking its toll on the coral, she said the current climate was affecting the reef in different ways - particularly the turtles.
Echoing the sentiments of Dr Col Limpus, who spoke to the NewsMail about hot sand impacting the number of hatchlings surviving, Ms Lobartolo said turtles on Lady Musgrave Island were also being greatly affected by this during their nesting season.
"Due to the lack of rain, the sand is so dry that when the turtles attempt to carve their egg chamber (where they lay their eggs), the sand is just collapsing," she said.
"And so turtles and deciding either not to lay, or could lay below the high tide mark, meaning their clutch is likely to get flooded and not survive.
"We have an average of 150-200 turtles coming up to nest on the beach each night at Musgrave, and a very small percentage of those actually successfully lay - about 5 per cent."
For more on impacts at Mon Repos: bit.ly/2NkxSHc.
