More than 9,100 turtle hatchlings have begun their life journey after being relocated from Raine Island to Sir Charles Hardy Islands (Wuthathi National Park (Cape York Peninsula Aboriginal Land )) as part of the Raine Island Recovery Project.
Late in 2025, 8,600 eggs from more than 100 turtle nests were relocated by the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, scientists and Wuthathi and Meriam Nation Traditional Owners.
The latest egg relocation follows the successful trial in 2024 where more than 3,000 eggs from 38 nests were relocated.
Relocating turtle eggs requires a meticulous approach, as the eggs must be gathered within a few hours of being laid before embryonic development starts.
Senior Project Officer Katharine Robertson said the team had created an innovative method to safely remove the eggs before the development of the embryo begins.
"The eggs are flushed with nitrogen in vacuum-sealed bags which puts them into a hypoxic or low oxygen state and allows them to be safely moved while keeping the embryo alive and healthy," Ms Robertson said.
"On Sir Charles Hardy Island, the eggs were reburied beneath shade structures which cools the sand and lowers nest incubation temperatures to try and produce more male hatchlings.
"The temperature of the nest during incubation determines the sex of the hatchlings, with hotter sand producing females and cooler sand producing males.
"When we returned to the island in February to dig the relocated nests, we found 82.4 per cent of the eggs had successfully hatched.
"The hatching success rate was higher than we expected and better than nests left naturally on Raine Island, and this confirms that our method could be scaled up.
Chair of Wuthathi Aboriginal Corporation Keron Murray said based on incubation temperatures, the relocated nests were likely to have produced more male hatchlings.
"The success of the project can be attributed to the ingenuity and leadership of the Traditional Owners to ensure the preservation and future of this green turtle population," Mr Murray said.
Chair of Mer Gedkem Le Torres Strait Islander Registered Native Title Body Corporate Falen Passi said the egg relocation project is one of the first co-designed government and Indigenous egg translocation projects in Australia.
"The green turtle is our Totem on Mer and is an important species for many Torres Strait and Aboriginal communities," Mr Passi said.
"The Project's sharing of Traditional Knowledge and scientific knowledge has helped to ensure green turtles have a future."
Raine Island is a priority place under the Australian Government's Threatened Species Action Plan. It supports nesting for approximately 90 per cent of northern Great Barrier Reef green turtles. The Raine Island Recovery Project is funded through the Australian Government's Saving Native Species Program.
The program is delivered by the Queensland Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation in collaboration with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, the Wuthathi and Meriam Nation Traditional Owners.
