Ningaloo Sea Turtle Nesting & Hatching Walk
Experience sea turtle nesting season on the Ningaloo Coast — from November to March, loggerhead, green, and hawksbill turtles come ashore to nest on the beaches of the North West Cape in one of Australia's most significant marine turtle breeding events.
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Jurabi Turtle Nesting Beach
Jurabi Beach north of Exmouth is Western Australia's most important turtle nesting beach — up to 10,000 loggerhead turtles nest here each season, making it one of the most significant loggerhead rookeries in the Indian Ocean.
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Turtle Nesting Night Walk
The guided night walks from Jurabi Turtle Centre operate from December to February — rangers locate nesting turtles and guide small groups to watch the female excavate her nest chamber, deposit 100-120 eggs, cover the nest, and return to the sea.
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Turtle Hatchling Release
Loggerhead hatchling releases on Jurabi Beach from February to April complete the nesting season — the 5-cm hatchlings emerge from the sand and instinctively head towards the ocean, running the gauntlet of ghost crabs and seabirds in a high-mortality sprint.
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Green Turtle Nesting Area
Green turtles nest throughout the Ningaloo Marine Park beaches from October to January — the herbivorous turtles are the most commonly encountered while snorkelling on the reef, where they graze on seagrass in the lagoon throughout the year.
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Hawksbill Turtle Feeding Zone
Hawksbill turtles feed on sponges in the deeper sections of the Ningaloo reef — the critically endangered species uses its narrow beak to extract sponges from reef crevices, and sightings while snorkelling are the rarest of the three Ningaloo turtle species.
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Cape Range Marine Turtle Research Station
The Department of Biodiversity turtle research programme on the North West Cape has been monitoring the loggerhead nesting population for over 30 years — the long-term data shows the population recovering from historical harvesting and fishing bycatch mortality.