Turtles in need taken 150km away to Quoin Island centre

An environmental group is pushing for a turtle rehabilitation and education centre to be built just south of Yeppoon as volunteers are forced to take the creatures to the nearest centre - 150km away - on a daily basis.

Amanda French and Madison Hellwege with the Intensive Care tanks at the Quoin Island Turtle Rehabilitation Centre. Picture: Rodney Stevens

An environmental group is pushing for a turtle rehabilitation and education centre to be built just south of Yeppoon as volunteers are forced to take the creatures to the nearest centre - 150km away - on a daily basis.

Jo Stoyel, from Capricorn Coast Marine Community Incorporated (CCMCI) group, told Livingstone Shire councillors the region was a hotspot for turtles and the current procedures regarding rehabilitating them was unsustainable.

“The reason why we need this project is because six of the world’s seven marine turtles are found within Australia… out of those three are regularly nesting on our beaches,” she said.

This little flatback hatchling was found struggling on Lammermoor Beach early Thursday morning by resident Justin Cleghorn. Photo Contributed / The Capricorn Coast Mirror

Ms Stoyel said turtles that require long-term rehabilitation currently need to be transported to facilities on Quoin Island near Gladstone.

“There is no facility within 150km of (the) Capricorn Coast…. any turtles that are found here (near Yeppoon) that do need long-term care or do need rehab will need to be escorted down to there,” she said.

“That’s happening here on a daily basis at the moment.

“We are lucky there is a strong group of probably five or so people that are willing to do the highway run. But that is not long-term sustainable.

Jake Haber, Kirsten Smith and Matt Lynn with Poly the loggerhead turtle on Quoin Island on October 16.

“It’s volunteer money, it’s volunteer wear-and-tear on their cars and it is volunteer time. It’s costing them a lot.”

Ms Stoyl said the location of Quoin Island is troublesome in itself with the dual problem of the weather sometimes not allowing the turtles to be shifted across to the facility and the facility being at capacity frequently.

“A lot of those turtles (needing assistance), probably 60 per cent of them are from the Capricorn Coast or the Keppel Bunker group,” she said.

Ms Stoyel said the creation of the facility would be done in two stages, one focusing on rehabilitation and the second focusing on the community and education.

Poly the loggerhead turtle makes her way back into the ocean on Quoin Island on October 16.

“We see it (the centre) as being a great educational facility for schools,” she said.

Livingstone Shire councillors unanimously approved a two-year trustee (due diligence) lease at its Recreation and Culture committee after hearing from her.

The decision was made at council’s Recreation and Culture meeting in early March and is a major step in the process of building the dedicated rehabilitation and education centre which would be located on Lot 41, next to the Causeway Lake on the Scenic Hwy.

Billy the Hawksbill Turtle was rescued off Heron Island and currently recovering at the Quoin Island Turtle Rehabilitation Centre.

It allows the CCMCI to conduct planning (including necessary environmental studies, engineering studies, planning and building approval, etc) for the proposed centre.

The approved lease does not include permission to undertake work at the site and only once all final detailed drawings and plans of the proposed rehabilitation centre are available will the Livingstone Council undertake a community engagement process.

With the unanimous approval of the Recreation and Culture committee, the issue of CCMCI’s two-year lease will now move to Livingstone’s ordinary council meeting to pass as a resolution.