‘Punk’ bum-breathing Mary River turtle hatchlings to be studied with trackers

A bum-breathing turtle adopted by the punk scene because of its green algae mohawk will have its movements and survival rates tracked as part of a new project.

A Mary River turtle hatchling.

Ten Mary River turtle hatchlings, the region’s world-famous “punk” bum-breathing turtles, have each been fitted with a unique nano-transmitter to track the movements and survival rates of the endangered reptiles as part of a new project.

Tiaro and District Landcare Group began tracking the movements of the vulnerable species earlier in April in a project that will be jointly funded by the Australian and Queensland governments through the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.

Tracking the movements of the juvenile turtles will provide insights into the predation levels and survivability of the turtles in the downstream section of the Mary River.

For the first time, non-native eel-tail catfish and native eels within the Mary River have been tagged with transmitters which will allow Tiaro and District Landcare to track the movements of these large fish and identify whether they are in fact predating on juvenile Mary River turtles.

The Mary River turtle was named as one of the top 100 edge reptiles in 2018 by the Zoological Society of London EDGE program (Evolutionary Distinct and Globally Endangered).

It was also adopted by the Melbourne punk scene after a photo of one bum-breather appeared online sporting a green algae mohawk.

The endangered Mary River Turtle is known for its bum-breathing and its punk-like algae mohawk.

The project, which will continue until September 2025, will allow experts to better understand the extent of the 2021-2022 flooding’ impacts on the turtle breeding populations, compare movement patterns of turtles and their predators, and better understand if severe flooding events have an impact on turtle population size in this region of the river.

One of Australia’s largest freshwater turtles, the Mary River turtle, which exists only in Queensland, is now one of the state’s most endangered reptiles, with an estimated 95 per cent decline in nesting populations since the 1970s.

Tiaro and District Landcare Group are working with scientists from Charles Darwin University to gather a variety of population, behavioural and ecological data to compare pre and post flooding trends in an effort to identify the impact the flooding has had on the species, and to inform future management of the Mary River turtle population.

A Mary River turtle.

Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service principal project officer Kaitlyn Houghton said it was exciting to see the project well underway and to meet the project partners.

“The severe flooding that impacted southeast Queensland caused significant damage to our waterways, which are home to some of the state’s most vulnerable species.

“Supporting local community groups natural resource management groups and researchers to deliver habitat restoration, monitoring and species recovery actions is so important.

“The department cannot tackle the recovery of Queensland’s threatened species alone, so working with a variety of partners and stakeholders increases our collective capacity to achieve real on-ground outcomes for these species.”

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