Sea-Turtle Rookeries in North-Western Torres Strait

Abstract

Deliverance Island, Kerr Islet and Turu Cay in north-western Torres Strait support a major nesting population and the most northerly recorded rookery of the flatback turtle, Natator depressa. Nesting occurs there year round, with a peak in the early months of the year. The islands are insignificant nesting sites for the green turtle, Chelonia mydas, and the hawksbill turtle, Eretmochelys imbricata. The N. depressa turtles that nest in western Torres Strait-north-eastern Gulf of Carpentaria are smaller and lay smaller eggs on average than the N. depressa turtles that breed in the southern Great Barrier Reef. On Deliverance Island, the inhabitants of nearby Queensland islands and Papua New Guinea coastal villages infrequently harvest N. depressa eggs as well as the green turtles that feed over the surrounding reef flats.