Rare Green sea turtle nest at Corindi near Coffs Harbour in northern NSW washed away in ferocious storm

Pushed further south into previously unknown laying territory, a rare turtle nest on the Mid-North Coast has sadly washed away in a ferocious storm surge, upsetting the community.

Pushed further south into previously unknown laying territory, a rare turtle nest established on the Mid-North Coast has now been completely washed away in recent storms.

The loss, discovered on Thursday morning as wild weather lashed the coast, has left the small coastal community of Corindi, north of Coffs Harbour, devastated.

Since the nest was first discovered in January, locals have made sure to keep dogs away and others, including Deb Jeppesen, have been acting as ‘citizen scientists’, monitoring the situation and feeding information to NSW TurtleWatch.

Ms Jeppesen captured the moment the mother green sea turtle came up to shore near the dunes to lay. She was walking her dog along the beach just before dawn.

The turtle laying eggs early in the morning on January 23.

The tracks leading up into the dunes at Corindi Beach on January 23.

“I saw a large track into the dunes but it didn’t register it could be turtle tracks and then I noticed a big mound of sand on the edge of the dunes – I thought it was a sand castle until I got closer and saw movement,” Ms Jeppesen said.

Eventually it registered what she was witnessing and she started to record, making sure she was at least three metres away.

In about five minutes it was all over and the turtle she estimated to be at least one metre wide and more than a metre long covered the eggs over and returned to the water.

Merryn Dunleavy from NSW Turtle Watch said the laying of eggs by the species on NSW beaches was a rare event – let alone when it’s caught on camera.

Merryn Dunleavy, project officer with NSW Turtle Watch, with flatback sea turtles.

Although unusual on the NSW coast, incidents of sea turtles laying on beaches further south is increasing.

Why this is happening is “the million dollar question”, according to Ms Dunleavy.

“It could be global warming pushing them further south or some of their regular beaches and habitat have been flooded or aren’t suitable anymore because of erosion,” she said.

BEFORE: Signs erected at Corindi Beach notifying beach goers of the nest.

AFTER: The turtle nest at Corindi has been destroyed. Posts where signs were placed to alert beach users to stay away can still be seen. Picture: Pamela Manning.

Wind gusts of up to 100km/h smashed coastal regions including Coffs Harbour and Port Macquarie. combined with powerful surf, high tides and heavy rain.

A large cruiser was ripped from its moorings and crashed into the Dunbogan Bridge near Port Macquarie overnight on Wednesday.

At Nambucca Heads, people woke to extensive damage and debris over the popular breakwall and picnic area on Thursday.

A boat stuck under bridge in the Camden Haven area near Port Macquarie as a result of the weather.

Nambucca council will work to repair damage at the breakwall after Wednesday’s wild weather. Picture: Mick Mair.

Despite rumours of human interference circulating on Facebook, Merryn Dunleavy from NSW TurtleWatch said it was the high tide and strong surf that washed away the nest.

“Volunteers arrived for their dawn patrol to find the beach had experienced extreme erosion and the nest uncovered with some eggs washed out onto the beach,” she said.

“NSW TurtleWatch in collaboration with NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service gathered the remaining 19 eggs and relocated them to the closest beach with a healthy dune system above the storm surge.”

Volunteers will continue to monitor the eggs at the relocation site, but the level of disturbance experienced serious concerns about the survival of the developing turtles.

Mothers can lay as many as seven clutches about two weeks apart in a season.

While each clutch can have as many as 120 eggs, fewer than 1 in 1000 survive to adulthood.

NSW Turtle Watch is funded by the state government and works closely with National Parks and Wildlife.

Have you got a news tip? Email: [e-mail]