This year's nesting season at a small, sandy beach in Western Australia's Pilbara region has seen the most mother turtles on record, according to a local monitoring program.
The reason for the high numbers is unknown, but it could be a change in food sources or natural nesting fluctuations
The monitoring occurs on sandy beaches near Wickham and Cleaverville, including Bells Beach near Rio Tinto's Cape Lambert Port Operations in the state's north-west.Ms McDonald said can take individuals up to 20 years to reach breeding maturity. She said while the team was still sorting out its preliminary data, it was a "great" nesting season.A flatback turtle leaving a nest at Bells Beach.
"Turtles are interesting creatures and there's so much we don't know … it could be to do with their food sources," she said. Ms McDonald said this season also saw some success for hatchlings, which could be attributed to the absence of major weather events this summer.