THE first turtles have arrived at Mon Repos to nest, signalling the beginning of turtle season in Queensland.
This season is extra significant as it marks 50 years since Dr Col Limpus launched the Queensland Turtle Conservation Program.
Dr Limpus's love for turtles, and ensuing half-century of research, stems from nights spent on the beach at Mon Repos as a young child.
"My father brought me down here as a five-year-old," he said.
"It was tradition to come to Mon Repos to see the New Year in and since 1956 I've only missed one New Year on the beach with turtles.
"In 1968 I started a four-year study on flatback turtles and it's still going.
"I grew up with turtles, and I'd like my grandkids and my great-grandkids to enjoy the things I did. If that's a legacy I can contribute to, then I'd like that."
Mon Repos supports the largest concentration of nesting marine turtles on the eastern Australian mainland and has the most significant loggerhead turtle nesting population in the South Pacific region (which has a lot to do with the work of Dr Limpus).
This year 30,000 people are expected to descend on Mon Repos near Bundaberg between November and March for Turtle Encounter Tours throughout the nesting and hatching season.
