Dead Turtle in the Bay

[solemandownunder]

Was out fishing around the Rous today....met up with Rob & Cliff, then moved on to go out the Rous channel to my fave spot.

Came across what I thought was an injured turtle close to the red channel marker.

In fact it was a dead turtle as it turns out ( tho that is only MY opinion, NOT a PROFESSIONAL ).....broken back....split from front to rear.

In the end, I call Fisheries, 13 2325....just in case it was still alive...GENERAL CALL CENTER, so it seems.

Sorry, no one can help you, but I will get the "ON CALL" fisheries person to call you back was the reply I received.....so left my details.

About 45 mins later I missed a call.......then I checked my messages.....

The message was from said "ON CALL" fisheries person.....

Message went as follows..... "Thank you for reporting a dead Turtle, we CANNOT help you, please call RSPCA on phone# such an such"

::)::)::)::)::)

I am SURE that no-one really GIVES a flying fig.....even though we are ENCOURAGED to report injured marine life as we do injured animal life on land.

RSPCA......:'(:'(:'(:'(...just WHAT in the hell were THEY gunna do....given the circumstances :o

I guess the point of the excercise today is to not give a rats....bugger THEM M8....nuna my business.

Got me buggered but......ALL this talk about Marine Parks & their inhabitants, yet ONE person reports an incident......NO ONE wanna know about it ::)

........I am left flabbergasted after this incident and now have NO FAITH whatsoever in the the powers that be.....when THEY preach Marine Care & Conservation, but have absolutely NO concern REALLY when an incident DOES occur.....WHAT, NO $$$$$$in it for you......AND a "I dont really care attitude" :o

I could now start with a tirade.....but I will use the same logic.....dont give a flying fig....

Ray.

[Moonlighter]

You were given the correct advice. The marine park is not administered by Fisheries, it is the responsibilitynof Qld Parks and Wildlife service.

This info is from Moreton Bay Marine Park website, the section covering how to report injured sea animals, turtles etc:

To report marine animal strandings* call the RSPCA Qld on 1300 ANIMAL (1300 264 625). A Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) officer in the relevant region will be contacted with your information and will determine the appropriate response. QPWS will not be able to attend to all reported cases.

* marine animal strandings of sick, injured or dead turtles, dolphin, dugongs or whales

QPWS will require the following information:

location (GPS coordinates if possible)
a description of what is wrong with the animal (e.g. stranded on beach, injuries, entangled in a net, injured)
a description of the animal (type of animal—dugong, turtle, whale, dolphin; condition; size and any identifying tags)
photos (if available)
your contact details.

Hope that helps.

ML

[Shark Poker]

Poor Turtle.
Luckily there a many still about.
And last month I went for a slow drive around the shallows off St Helena Island where I saw 3 baby turtles, about 1/3 of grown-up size. Plus a few fully grown turtles.
And a big school of almost legal to just legal bream, must have been 150 fish, swimming n water only a metre or so deep.

On a third positive note, my oldies spend a lot of time at jumpinpin, and regularly saw a pelican with a broken beak. They used to throw him a few fish which he happily accepted.
Then suddenly one day a zodiac with Sea World written on the sides comes flying out of the mangroves and captures the pelican, who works at Sea World now.

Now with the benefit of hindsight, you could have towed ol' Mr Turtle back into Manly Boat Harbour and placed him outside the Possum rangers HQ.
Cheers Ray,
Pauly

[liltuffy]

Ray, why "a tirade", man you need to chill out, you ran in to the public service. What were you expecting - a squadron of Blackhawks because you found a dead turtle ??

Seriously

[crikey macca]

maybe we should do a quick whip around and see if we can buy him a new shell

[Boat Hog]

maybe we should do a quick whip around and see if we can buy him a new shell

I'm not shelling out if he's dead ....

[MacDougall]

Might have been better off calling underwater world or something?

[bigjimg]

Might have been better off calling underwater world or something?

Or maybe Splinter,,,,, he could help.Jim

ps.ninja turtle with a splitting headache.

[Moonlighter]

On a more serious note fella's.....

Found out quite a lot about the Bay's turtles when i was working (for rec fishing interests) on the MB marine park rezoning a few years ago.

The vast majority of them that get hit by boats are already seriously ill with the "floating disease". Being sickly, slow and unable to dive, in that condition, they are unfortunately quite susceptible to boat strike.

But the good news is that the population has recovered remarkably well from the early days when there was a flourishing business in turtle soup based right here in the Bay. We saw graphs that also showed a strong recovery in numbers once TEDs were introduced on trawlers, in fact, the population was heading very strongly back to very solid levels by around 2005, which was the most up to date data available at the time.

Quite some years ago now the relevant marine parks agencies stopped doing routine autopsies on dead turtles, mainly because the causes were already quite well known - ingestion of plastic bags etc, floating disease, and similar. A number were also drowned, mostly in those cheap rectangular crab pots, due to the wide openings that allow them to get head and shoulders right inside. And some in lost/abandoned witches hat crab nets, the ones that are now banned.

So if the one Ray saw was dead, really, there was not much point reporting it to anyone. If it was still alive then it would have been worth informing them, but whether they would be able to help it if it was close to death is most unlikely.

Again, remember that the Marine Park zones have not been established for fisheries management purposes, so they have nothing to do with Fisheries. The benefits of green zones are fundamentally NOT about increasing fish numbers or making fish species more sustainable.

Marine Parks are run by the EPA in the old days, and Parks and Wildlife now. So they are the ones to report things like sick or injured wildlife (other than fish) to.

[honda900]

"Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service"

A serious contradiction in name.. and they still get paid..

Regards
Honda.

[WalrusLike]

Not sure I understand why you are ranting about a dead turtle....

Did you expect a medal, or a parade, or a formal autopsy?

My taxes have better things to do than follow up on dead critters dying of known hazards. I am glad they said thanks, but no thanks...


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[honda900]

He didn't know if it was dead or not..

So a department specifically paid to deal with wildlife issues, basically couldn't give a rats, fairly typical.

Regards
Honda.

[bluefin59]

We where out at mud yesterday arvo about 1:30 and a fisheries boat came past us heading back to the river from over that way ,it was about 7 mt cabin boat with a large rear deck so maybe they ended up going out for a look for you ...Matt

[solemandownunder]

Oh well...a broad band of comments, thank you all for the input.

And NO M8...not after any medal or recognition....JUST action, but as it has kindly been explained, there are reasons for this.

Here are the pics I took as best I could.......

[solemandownunder]

We where out at mud yesterday arvo about 1:30 and a fisheries boat came past us heading back to the river from over that way ,it was about 7 mt cabin boat with a large rear deck so maybe they ended up going out for a look for you ...Matt

They may have Matt, who knows, but I phoned in around 8am, and at that time the turtle was just outside the red rous marker and drifting quickly S/W.

Although I was not asked, I would not have been able to supply gps co-ords as I dont have one yet.

It also occurred to me at the time that the turtle could have been construed to be a boating hazard, and this was also on my mind...AS I expressed to the operator at the time.

If not already found, I guess it will wash ashore somewhere in time.

Cheers, Ray.

[solemandownunder]

Ray, why "a tirade", man you need to chill out, you ran in to the public service. What were you expecting - a squadron of Blackhawks because you found a dead turtle ??

Seriously

To be quite honest M8, I didnt know WHAT to expect, this was the 1st time I had ever seen this and really didnt know what to DO :-? I dont think I would alone in a situation like this.

Was just disappointed that it was treated the way it was....but, as has been explained, the reasons behind this have been well documented WITH Marine parks etc.

Unless one spends a lot of time delving into research done and how to handle it....what would joe blow know anyway ?

As with a injured or even dead koala, authorities still require us to notify them, so I took that line in this circumstance.

Thanks, Ray.

[WalrusLike]

Not sure I understand why you are ranting about a dead turtle....

Did you expect a medal, or a parade, or a formal autopsy?......

The grumpy reply above was not my most shining moment. Sorry SM.

Yeah I can see it was a quandary and you no doubt did the right thing. Short of dragging it above high water there is not much else you could do.

The fact is though that we kill wildlife all day every day. Mostly we don't see it though.


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[Shark Poker]

Any fish yesterday Ray?

[netmaker]

mate of mine once reported a floater. "authorities" got him to keep it in sight for them until they got there (about an hour later). mate ran out of fuel on the way home, half a k before the ramp which he reckoned was due to "minding" said turtle::). i hate the things. have caught at least 6 on the line with each one making me think i had the mother of all fish on::). also hated getting them off the sorting tray on the trawlers - snappy, stinky, cranky old farts. never saw a dead one on the tray either. personally reckon they loved it - probably stuffed themselves whilst they were in the net. as for being a threatened species i reckon most fishos know there are stacks of 'em out there.

[Crunchy]

Withdrawn comment....

[manta man]

Yeh about 4 Years ago a "Large Dugong" washed up on the Beach at Inskip Point, low and behold Parks and Wildlife turned up mmm F... thats huge, what the F... we going do with this. Anyway cut to the story, they return the following day with a Truck and Bobcat "Plan was to load onto the Truck, hang on Thing won"t fit in the Bucket... Sh## what next. Must have made Ph call, 1hr later Small Escavator turns up, they try again to load no luck. MMM what next "ah" well just dig a big hole up the Beach and roll her in. Hole was about 6ftx3ft just pushed her in, backfilled high 5s alround then duly left. Mate about 4 days later the "Stench Was Truly Unbelievable". They never returned it was a "Dead Set Circus".

[Bull]

Myself and some work mates rescued a Turtle a couple years ago. He went off to Seaworld I never heard if he survived or not.

[WalrusLike]

So Bull... Which handsome fella in that photo is you?


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[Bull]

I'm not in the photos I was on camera duty

[netmaker]

I'm not in the photos I was on camera duty

probably a good thing. looks like that turtle crapped himself when he saw ya;)

[Boat Hog]

Myself and some work mates rescued a Turtle a couple years ago. He went off to Seaworld I never heard if he survived or not.

Can we put you on standby for the 1770/Agnes M&G? Skills like those might come in handy. ;)

[Bull]

Can we put you on standby for the 1770/Agnes M&G? Skills like those might come in handy. ;)

Sure can Jim.
We might have to use your boat though mine is a bit slow. You don't mind if we paint Turtle Rescue down each side do you??

[cobiaman]

Could you fit a bull and a horse in the same boat after they have hit the joy feeding station?

[wags on the water]

Looks like EPA are going soft and adding a hiab to their vehicles......
Ray, the best thing you can do if coming across a floater is check the left and right front flippers for a titanium tag. Record this number and mention it to the mob ML mentioned in his post.

[solemandownunder]

Not sure I understand why you are ranting about a dead turtle....

Did you expect a medal, or a parade, or a formal autopsy?......

The grumpy reply above was not my most shining moment. Sorry SM.

Yeah I can see it was a quandary and you no doubt did the right thing. Short of dragging it above high water there is not much else you could do.

The fact is though that we kill wildlife all day every day. Mostly we don't see it though.


(Using Tapatalk on iPhone so can't easily 'thank' or 'like')

No probs M8....I saw where you where heading.....

IF I had a 2lt Milk bottle at the time I would have tagged it and connected it to the body...alas I did not, however I will be ready next time.

One of the things that Kerri likes most in the bay is the ability to see what we have in Marine Wildlife at a glance....ALL sorts of things bobbing in & up out the water as well as the native birdlife.

Although this varies from the Southern to the Northern bay...the outing is much more enjoyable seeing nature at its' best.

Since we have been on this forum, we have seen Dugong basking & doing their thing in the Rous, MASSIVE turtles breaching ALL around us, beautiful bird building their nests in a stricken tree, AND have caught some fine fish along the way.....

I am also sure that there are MANY things that we have missed along the way and have yet to see 8-)

I ask all you INSIDE Moreton fisherpeople....dont you just LOVE what we have :)

[Shark Poker]

So any fish, Ray?

[solemandownunder]

Any fish yesterday Ray?

Got 30 all up Paul with 10 thrown in from Robsue ( GOD LOVE HIS LIL HEART )...and hard work it WAS, UNLESS you are aboard Robs' boat ;D. The man is a GENIOUS 8-)

BUT, there is nothing like gettin out there and havin a go.....sorta puts a person on notice atm:-?

Be back next week, around Wed for another attack.....maybe Sandills, or the Rous, not sure yet ;D

[solemandownunder]

So any fish, Ray?

18 Monday.........30 with Robs help yesterday....

Got me buggered...Talked to Rob about this 1 hour ago, same rig, same bait, new hooks, sitting in his drift, couldnt get on :-?

Could not get the bites he was getting, however we have different styles when fishing alone....THIS grasshopper is still learning ;D