![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/SCN220126-turtle-strike-02.jpg\")
A turtle hatchling makes it way out of a nest in the dunes towards the ocean.<\/p>\nDrivers are being asked to show care on beaches after turtle hatchlings were reportedly found crushed in vehicle tracks.<\/p>\n
Loggerhead and green turtles are in their nesting season, which runs from November to March, laying their eggs just above the high-water mark in the fragile lower dune ecosystems.<\/p>\n
The crushed hatchlings were reported by a family staying at Noosa North Shore.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople who walk or drive through dunes risk crushing turtle nests and killing hatchlings before they have a chance to reach the ocean,\u201d Noosa Council fauna management officer David O\u2019Gorman said.<\/p>\n
\u201cArtificial lights from businesses, homes, cars and torches can disorient hatchlings, sending them away from the sea.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen visitors ignore designated beach access points and create new tracks, they risk destroying nesting habitat. Marine debris can also trap and injure turtles.<\/p>\n
A turtle hatchling makes it way out of a nest in the dunes towards the ocean.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also have the highest number of recorded nests on the Noosa North Shore this season, increasing the risks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Noosa mayor Frank Wilkie said hatchlings of the endangered loggerhead turtle faced an uphill challenge to survive without being crushed in the nest or on the beach by vehicles.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile a nest can contain up to around 150 eggs, as few as only one in 1000 hatchlings are estimated to survive to reach maturity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis low survival rate is a natural part of their life cycle and human impacts like vehicle strike, which occurred on the North Shore recently, reduces survival rates even further.<\/p>\n