1 Million Turtles Community Conservation Program
Step 1: Download and open the TurtleSAT app
Click once on the info (More) tab at the bottom and select “Nest Predictor tool”
STEP 2: TYPE IN YOUR SUBURB
Start by entering the name of your suburb to centre the map on your area of interest.
Local Nesting Hotspots
Discover areas in your suburb where turtles nest frequently. This data can be vital for conservation managers and community groups looking to protect essential nesting habitats. By focusing efforts in these hotspots, locals and conservation authorities can improve breeding success and safeguard vital nesting zones.
View high-risk road segments for turtle crossings
Road Crossing Risk Areas
Road crossings pose a significant threat to turtles, especially during breeding times when females seek nesting sites. For local councils/planners, this information is essential for implementing road signage, temporary fencing, or speed restrictions that help reduce roadkill incidents and improve turtle survival rates.
Identify nests at risk due to extreme temperature exposure
Extreme Temperature Vulnerable Nest Sites
With climate change increasing heatwaves frequency - turtle nests may be exposed to temperatures that threaten hatchling viability. This layer helps conservationists & community take proactive steps, e.g., installing temporary shading/cooling materials, protect nests and increase hatchlings success.
Why Turtles need to nest on land
Female turtles emerge from the water during the nesting season (Spring for most species in southern Australia) and walk for some distance. Most are looking for the highest point in an open area so their eggs can avoid floods and be kept warm by the afternoon sun. Once they find their spot, they will use their back legs to dig a hole about 10-20cm deep. Their eggs are often eaten by predators like introduced foxes. It is a great opportunity to watch them in their natural environment.
Download TurtleSAT
more about the turtle nests
The Hole
For the eggs to survive and have a chance of hatching, turtles must lay their eggs in soil and sand. The hole is well constructed and open. Low vegetation with a good root system is key because the sun will warm the eggs and the nest structure won't collapse with lots of rain
Eggs Breathe
As they are developing, the embryos breathe air through a membrane in the eggs, and so they cannot survive if they are continuously covered with water.
Finishing Up
Once the female is done, she will carefully place soil over the top of the hole and then pat it down by lifting up and thumping it with her plastron (the bottom of her shell). She will then leave and the hatchling will emerge several months later. In some species, they will remain underground for over a year.
There is always one oddball!
There is one turtle that nests underwater
Northern long-necked turtles create their nests underwater at the end of the wet season in northern Australia. Embryonic development remains arrested until floodwaters recede in the dry season and the ground dries. Hatchling emergence presumably coincides with heavy rain or flooding at the beginning of the following wet season.
