Flatback turtles

Learn more about this unique Australian marine turtle

Flatback turtles have a flat, olive grey shell with upturned edges. They have four pairs of costal scales (the scales on each side of their carapace, or shell) and one pair of pre-frontal scales (the scales at the front of their head, between their eyes). They grow to around 1m long and can weigh up to 100kg. The flatback turtle model shown to the left was created from a real-life turtle nesting on Thevenard Island, Western Australia and can be moved around and magnified to see more detail.

Where flatback turtles nest in Western Australia

Western Australia’s coastline is huge, stretching thousands of kilometres. For marine turtle researchers and conservation managers this is a big challenge; it is impossible to be present at all beaches where turtles nest to get an accurate picture of species distribution (where they are) and abundance (how many there are).

The North West Shelf Flatback Turtle Conservation Program has used aerial photogrammetry (taking photos of the landscape from planes) across the Western Australia coastline during peak nesting season to see which beaches have flatback turtle tracks and are therefore nesting beaches. The results of these surveys, along with on-ground monitoring and observations of nesting turtles, have informed the NWSFTCP about where the most important nesting beaches are and where we should focus our monitoring and conservation efforts.

The map below shows the location of the known flatback turtle nesting beaches in Western Australia:

Zoom in and hover your cursor over the turtle icon to see the name of each location.

Disclaimer:

The data included in this graph is the property of the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions. This data is to be used only for educational purposes and not for distribution, publication or commercial use. Data may have been de-identified or excluded in the process of making it available to the public domain and is subject to change following further curation and analysis.