![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2025\/06\/Eskyincubatorswithtu_16088.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
In most turtle species, the gender of the offspring is determined by the temperature of the nest during incubation. Warmer temperatures during incubation generally produce female turtles, while cooler temperatures produce males.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn other places in Australia, such as Queensland, there is a suggested feminisation of marine turtle nests, meaning due to the increased temperatures, most of the hatchlings being produced are females,\u201d Miss Dunleavy said. \u201cNSW may be increasingly important in the future with climate change, in that we offer lower overall beach temperatures, producing mostly male hatchlings.\u201d<\/p>\n
While it was once believed that sea turtles return to the exact beach where they were born to nest, scientists now understand that they tend to return to the general area.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n NSW TurtleWatch is aiming to collect long-term data to determine whether a southern shift in nesting patterns is already occurring as an adaptive response to climate change \u2014 and whether this trend is likely to continue.<\/p>\n Since 2019, the organisation has been monitoring marine turtle nesting activity. This season, 24 nesting events were recorded \u2014 18 of which were successful. The remaining six were classified as false crawls, where a female turtle comes ashore and attempts to nest, but ultimately returns to the ocean without laying eggs.<\/p>\n \u201cThere can be a number of reasons why a turtle may false crawl, including erosion on the beach, debris or obstacles, sand condition, lighting, a disturbance,\u201d Miss Dunleavy said.<\/p>\n Of the 24 nesting events recorded in NSW, 21 occurred in the Northern Rivers region, of which 15 were successful.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred approached in early March, NSW TurtleWatch conducted the largest turtle egg rescue operation in the state\u2019s history. Eggs from nine beaches, stretching from south of Port Macquarie to Tweed Heads, were relocated to protect them from being washed away or damaged by debris, pollution or unstable incubation temperatures.<\/p>\n Due to the dangerous and deteriorating conditions, most of the rescued eggs were placed in incubators for the remainder of their development.<\/p>\n A shortage of available commercial incubators led to the creation of custom-made alternatives \u2014 eskies filled with sand, heat pads, thermostats and temperature monitors. NSW TurtleWatch also borrowed commercial incubators from Australian Seabird and Turtle Rescue in Ballina.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2025\/06\/Rescuedloggerheadtur_19114.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2025\/06\/Loggerheadturtlehatc_21713.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2025\/06\/Loggerheadturtlehatc_23678.jpg\")