Seasonality, abundance and breeding biology of one of the largest populations of nesting flatback turtles, Natator depressus: Cape Domett, Western Australia

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Contents Vol 56(5)

doi:10.1071/ZO08038

Seasonality, abundance and breeding biology of one of the largest populations of nesting flatback turtles, Natator depressus: Cape Domett, Western Australia

Andrea U. Whiting ^A ^E, Allan Thomson ^B, Milani Chaloupka ^C, Colin J. Limpus ^D

^A School of Environmental and Life Sciences, Charles Darwin University, NT 0909, Australia.
^B Department of Environment and Conservation, East Kimberley District, Kununurra, WA 6743, Australia.
^C Ecological Modelling Services, PO Box 6150, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Qld 4067, Australia.
^D Environmental Protection Agency, PO Box 15 155, City East, Brisbane, Qld 4002, Australia.
^E Corresponding author. Email: andrea.whiting@cdu.edu.au





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Australian Journal of Zoology 56(5) 297–303 http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/ZO08038
Submitted: 16 April 2008 Accepted: 3 December 2008 Published online: 29 January 2009

Abstract

Cape Domett, located in tropical Western Australia, supports a significant population of flatback turtles, Natator depressus, but the magnitude of this was previously underestimated. We assessed temporal nesting abundance to find that Cape Domett supports one of the largest aggregated nesting flatback turtle populations globally with annual abundance in the order of several thousand individuals (estimated = 3250, 95% CI = 1431–7757). We assessed temporal abundance within a year to find turtles nested throughout the year with peak nesting occurring between August and September. This paper re-evaluates the importance of this major flatback turtle nesting site and shows the first detailed examination of flatback turtle nesting biology in north-western Australia.