Meet the man protecting turtles in Queensland
<p>Meet the turtle whisperer.</p>
<p>Patrick Couper, originally from Wellington, is the curator of reptiles and amphibians at the Queensland Museum in Brisbane.</p>
<p>Taxidermy was an early interest and Couper would try his hand at preserving creatures he found as roadkill.</p>
<p>At the World Science Festival in March, he was the public face of the hatchery, where members of the public could see loggerhead turtles emerging from eggs.</p>
<p>It's rare to witness turtles hatching because, in their natural environment, loggerheads hatch in sand and at night because they use light to navigate towards the ocean.</p>
<p>Six of the world's seven species of marine turtles are found in Australian waters and migrating turtles, mainly leatherback and green, have been spotted in New Zealand waters.</p>
<p>The seven sea species are loggerheads, leatherbacks, green turtles, flatback turtles, hawksbill, and Olive Ridley turtles.</p>
<p>In his Wellington days, Couper spent a lot of time at the old Dominion Museum helping with taxidermy.</p>
<p>"I used to go in after school. People would come out and identify stuff for me. I've always had an active interest in turtles."</p>
<p>The knowledge of turtle life cycles was growing all the time, he said.</p>
<p>"They don't always return to the same beach.</p>
<p>"They have a really interesting life history."</p>
<p>At the hatchery, eggs taken from Mon Repos northeast of Bundaberg were hatching in stages in 100-per cent humidity, temperature-controlled transparent incubators.</p>
<p>Little loggerheads will be released into the ocean, where they will pick up the East Australian Current and then spend around 16 years in open waters before their first breeding season back in Queensland.</p>
<p>Couper said loggerheads were endangered and the public could help by learning about conservation efforts.</p>
<p>Conservation along the Queensland coast was helping, but turtles spend decades in the open ocean.</p>
<p>"We're losing young loggerheads. We're not losing them on the Queensland coast. It's in the open ocean. They pick up the East Australian Current and they end up off the coast of Chile and Peru. Little loggerheads eat small bits of plastic and there's a significant loss."</p>
<p>In Queensland, conservation has helped boost numbers after the population dropped from around 3500 loggerheads in the 1970s to 500 in 2000.</p>
<p>Have you ever seen turtles in real life?</p>
<p><em>Written by John Edens. First appeared on <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Stuff.co.nz</span></strong></a>. Image credit: Stuff.co.nz / Tourism and Events Queensland.</em></p>
