Help Cable Beach turtles survive
Help Cable Beach turtles survive – send a quick submission in support of a longer beach-safety period
Flatback Turtles only nest on northern Australian beaches and are listed as a threatened species. Only 1 in 1000 hatchlings survive to adulthood.
The Cable Beach turtles face threats such as animals digging up nests and eating the eggs and young - but in addition they also face the threat of vehicles being driven over nests, and tyre-ruts blocking access to the ocean for hatchlings.
You can help here in less than a minute of your time, by submitting a quick submission, before 4pm Friday 30 August 2024, stating your support for extending the vehicle ramp closure through February.
Hatchlings get trapped in tyre-ruts on the beach and fail to make it from the nest to the sea.
If we want the Flatback turtle population to survive, then we need to do all we can to help them, including keeping vehicles off the beach during nesting and hatching times.
A happier hatchling. Photo: Allysha Cartledge.
Instructions:
- Click this link, it will take you to the Shire of Broome's webpage.
- Scroll down.
- Fill in your name and post code (make sure there is not a space at the start of your postcode).
- Fill in your email.
- Select "YES" to the question: "Do you support extending the vehicle ramp closure through February?"
- Add a comment if you wish (optional).
- Click the box next to the words "I'm not a robot".
- Click "Submit".
- Note: If at this point you don't receive a "Submission complete" message and a receipt number for your submission, try scrolling back up to see if it specifies where an error may have occurred, then fix the error.
Environs Kimberley recommends that Cable Beach be closed to vehicles during the whole nesting and hatching season from October to April. On the table right now is a step towards that - the option to expand vehicle restrictions into the month of February.
Flatback Turtle - threatened species. Photo: Dave and Fiona Harvey
If you would like to provide optional comments, here are some points you could include:
- Flatback turtles are a threatened species
- The Flatbacks at Cable Beach hatched there, and feed in Roebuck Bay
- We have a great opportunity to provide more protection by keeping cars off the beach during nesting and hatching times
- There should be a ban on vehicles during nesting and hatching time, from October to April – including all of February
- According to the Shire of Broome’s website, data from Department of Biodiversity Conservation and Attractions compiled from six years of its turtle monitoring program at Cable Beach showed that: “on average, 20 per cent of turtle nests hatch in February and that Cable Beach turtles only nest at Cable Beach. The Council accepted this compiled data as valid scientific evidence to justify extending ramp closures through February until March 1 to protect the unhatched turtle nests after January.”
- Also according to the Shire of Broome’s website, “… the Yawuru Parks Council has requested that the Shire of Broome consider extending the existing December and January closures to include all of February to ensure that the 20 per cent of nests that remain unhatched in February remain protected from vehicles and ruts caused by vehicle tyres.”
- The Shire takes serious reputational risks if it supports vehicles on the beach rather than a threatened species.
Woodside’s Browse oil and gas drilling plan for Scott Reef rejected by EPA
Woodside’s Browse oil and gas drilling plan for Scott Reef rejected by EPA
Oil and gas multinational Woodside’s Browse Basin project at Scott Reef with joint venture partners BP, Japan Australia LNG and PetroChina has suffered a huge blow after being rejected by the WA Environmental Protection Authority (EPA).
Congratulations to the EPA for a sensible first step in rejecting a terrible proposal.
Scott Reef. Pic: Alex Westover
The EPA have said the company’s plans to drill 50 oil and gas wells around the globally significant Scott Reef off the Kimberley coast has unacceptable impacts on endangered Blue Whales, be a threat to endangered Green Turtles, and risk pollution and oil spills at the highly biodiverse and fragile reef, according to reports made public today. The EPA considers these risks too high.
Scott Reef is a marine biodiversity hotspot that supports 29 marine mammal species including endangered Blue Whales. Nine hundred species of fish have been found at the reef and 1,500 species of invertebrates, including soft and hard corals, sponges and crustaceans. It is also a hotspot for sea snakes, including the elusive Dusky Sea Snake, which hasn’t been seen since 2002.
Save Scott Reef protest in Broome. Pic: Alex Westover.
“This proposal to drill 50 oil and gas wells around Scott Reef off the Kimberley coast, one of the most important marine hotspots in Australian waters, would be rejected out of hand at the Great Barrier Reef and Ningaloo, so it’s not surprising the WA EPA has rejected it,” said Martin Pritchard, Director of Strategy at Broome-based conservation group Environs Kimberley.
The WA EPA has been assessing this proposal for 5 years and, in a letter to Woodside, it has been reported that there could be unacceptable impacts on endangered Blue Whales, Green Turtles and the reef itself,” said Mr Pritchard.
Woodside withdrew its controversial plans for $80 billion LNG refineries on the Kimberley coast at James Price Point in 2013 after fierce opposition from locals and protests across the nation.
“The risks of destroying one of the world’s great coral reefs with oil and gas drilling are clearly too great, and we’re calling on Premier Roger Cook and Environment Minister Reece Whitby to also reject the threat to Scott Reef,” said Mr Pritchard.
It is understood that Woodside now has an opportunity to respond to the EPA, which will make its recommendation to the State Government. Both the State and Federal Governments will then make final decisions on whether or not the Browse project and drilling at Scott Reef can go ahead.
Broome Locals Warned Town Could Become “Unliveable” If Emissions Continue To Rise
One of Australia’s most prestigious climate scientists has warned a packed town hall meeting in Broome that their town is on track to become “unliveable” if carbon emissions are not dramatically reduced soon.
IPCC report author and CEO of Climate Analytics Bill Hare told the sold out event that the world is currently on track for 2.7°C degrees of warming based on current government policies.
“The number of days over 40°C degrees across the northern land surface of Australia will increase quite rapidly. In a town like Broome, it could become too hot to work outside in parts of the year within a few decades,” warned Hare.
“Cattle also would not be able to survive once temperature and humidity reaches dangerous levels. It could become quite unlivable in several decades if we don’t dramatically reduce emissions soon and act to limit warming to 1.5°C.”
Climate scientist and IPCC report author Bill Hare briefs Broome locals.
Broome locals were briefed by Greenpeace, Conservation Council of WA and Environs Kimberley on Woodside’s new plans to drill at Scott Reef to develop the Browse field off the Kimberley coast, Australia’s largest untapped gas field.
Ten years after Woodside’s failed attempt to build an onshore gas processing plant at James Price Point, the fossil fuel giant is planning to build a 900-kilometre-long pipeline to pipe gas from the Browse field to the Karratha gas plant, as part of its wider Burrup Hub project.
Woodside’s proposal, which has been submitted for federal and state approval, would see the company drill up to 50 wells at the stunning Scott Reef, turning pristine waters into an industrial gas zone.
Broome locals packed a town hall meeting on Thursday 16 May to hear about Woodside’s plans to build a massive new fossil fuel project off the Kimberley coast.
Sitting 270 kilometres off the Kimberley coast, Scott Reef is one of Australia’s most vibrant and biodiverse standalone coral reefs, home to many threatened species including endangered green sea turtles and the endangered pygmy blue whale.
Woodside wants to drill just two kilometres from Scott Reef’s edge, risking a catastrophic oil spill. Meanwhile, the pipeline Woodside wants to build will also sit within 2 to 3 kilometres of the stunning Rowley Shoals, a diving paradise regularly visited by Broome marine tourism operators.
Broome locals had not previously been informed of the dangerous risks Woodside’s plans pose for the Kimberley coast.
“Woodside’s plans haven’t been made clear and transparent to Broome residents. People are just not aware of the risks. If something goes wrong, a well blowout could spread for hundreds of kilometres,” said Martin Pritchard, Director of Strategy at Environs Kimberley.
“Woodside’s safety record has been described by unions as ‘diabolical.’ They have had two pipeline accidents already this year off Karratha. We must place the protection of the Kimberley coast and everyone's jobs in tourism over Woodside profits.”
With the project facing possible approval within the next few months, Environs Kimberley called on Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek to visit Broome and Scott Reef to see first-hand what is at stake.
“This is a massive new fossil fuel development in a critically important area for endangered pygmy blue whales and green turtles - it’s completely unacceptable. Minister Plibersek can protect our oceans and wildlife for future generations by stopping Woodside’s destructive plans. We invite Minister Plibersek to come to the Kimberley and see for herself what's at stake.”
“Scott Reef is the unknown jewel in the crown of Australia’s offshore reefs. There would be a national outcry if Woodside was drilling for oil and gas on the Great Barrier Reef, we need the same kind of response here,” said Mr Pritchard.
“Broome banded together and successfully defeated Woodside in 2013. We need the community’s support again here to protect Scott Reef and the Kimberley coast from Woodside for good.”