It was a sad sight Peter Sawley wasn’t prepared for – a female loggerhead sea turtle dying on the far shores of Wallis Lake at Coomba.
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Peter was returning from checking his crab pots in a channel off the lake when he spotted the marine creature lying on the rocky shore late last week.
While her eyes were open, Peter was unsure if the turtle was alive or dead.
‘It was lying so still,” Peter’s wife Wendy said.
However, the Sawleys’ neighbour believed it was still alive claiming its eyes had been moving.
Measuring about 1.5 metres and estimated to be aged about 100 years old, National Parks and Wildlife (NPWS) officers later confirmed the turtle was a female and arguably the largest seen in that part of the Great Lakes.
From nature, it is going back into nature; that is the way I have chosen to look at this, and it is at peace now.
- Wendy Sawley
Wendy contacted both the Department of Primary Industries and NPWS, but no-one could come out until Monday, December 10.
“We kept an eye on her but sadly her eyes closed this afternoon,” Wendy posted on Facebook on Friday, December 7.
“I hope the turtle is in a safer and happier place. My neighbour has lived at Coomba Bay for 40 years and has never seen a turtle this big before.”
When NPWS officers visited the turtle they told Wendy it was unusual for a loggerhead turtle to be found that far south, especially during the breeding season.
An endangered and vulnerable species, loggerhead turtles are found in tropical and temperate waters off the East Coast.
In NSW they are seen as far south as Jervis Bay and have been recorded nesting on the north coast and feeding around Sydney.
Wendy believed the turtle had been lying injured and dying for at least a day before being found because her shell was dry.
Regardless of being discovered earlier, NPWS believed the turtle would have died due to the amount of stress it had suffered.
Wendy was assured by officers the turtle was not a floater (swallowing plastic) and it was relatively healthy.
Marine debris, particularly plastic, can can cause suffocation, abrasion, infection or blockages in the turtle’s system when swallowed.
“It had only about three barnacles.
“It must have been hit by a boat or something.”
Sadly, the turtle is continuing to decompose on its rocky grave.
“I’m glad it landed in such a ‘safe’ place away from the onlookers,” Wendy said.
“From nature, it is going back into nature; that is the way I have chosen to look at this, and it is at peace now.”
Jeanene Duncan
Jeanene has more than 40 years experience as a regional and rural journalist starting at The Land Newspaper. She also worked for Stock Journal Newspaper (SA), McPherson, Fairfax newspapers and Rural Press, and contributed to various magazines.
Jeanene has more than 40 years experience as a regional and rural journalist starting at The Land Newspaper. She also worked for Stock Journal Newspaper (SA), McPherson, Fairfax newspapers and Rural Press, and contributed to various magazines.
