A project of WWF Australia.
Girringun's flatback turtle whereabouts
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Species: Flatback Turtle Life Stage: Adult Gender: Female Release Date: 2013-11-15 23:45:00 Release Location: Wunjunga Beach Last Location: 2014-04-13 13:38:04
Background
Girringun Aboriginal Corporation named their turtle Gypsy.
Gypsy attempted to nest and lay her eggs on Wunjunga Beach at approximately 8.00pm on 15 November 2013. But after several attempts and more than an hour later, she moved towards the light horizon to return to the ocean. She was intercepted by the Girringun rangers to be taken back to camp for satellite transmitter attachment, assessment and sampling.
The combined efforts of WWF’s partners including the Girringun Aboriginal Corporation, assisted Dr Ian Bell and Sam Dibella from the Queensland Government’s Threatened Species Unit and WWF’s Species Conservation Project Coordinator Christine Hof with the satellite transmitter attachment, morphometric assessment, tagging, blood and tissue sampling. She was tagged using both titanium tags and pit tags for future identification and mark recapture analysis. She appeared to be in good health and measured 94cm in carapace length. Blood and tissue samples were collected for future stable isotope analysis. ‘Gypsy’ was successfully released and watched from the beach by volunteers as she swam towards the horizon, hopefully to return again soon to nest. CONTACT GIRRINGUN RANGERS
+61 (0)7 4066 8300 / ranger@girringun.com.au 235 Victoria Street, Bruce Hwy, Cardwell, QLD 4849, Australia