As the flooding from Tropical Cyclone Narelle\u2019s violent visit to Exmouth subsided and the winds dropped, Brinkley Davies headed to Graveyards beach.<\/p>\n
The beach, at least according to some Exmouth locals, got its name because of the tendency for turtles to get stuck on the dunes.<\/p>\n
But on Sunday morning, this stretch of sand in remote Western Australia<\/a> had turned into a literal graveyard, strewn with thousands of baby turtles and turtle eggs alongside dead fish, sea snakes, dolphins and seabirds.<\/p>\n \u201cThe sheer amount of animals was just disturbing. I\u2019m a pretty positive person, but it was so bad. I just rescued whatever I could,\u201d Davies said.<\/p>\n The state government said there had been similar scenes across hundreds of kilometres of beaches along the world heritage-listed Ningaloo coastline since Narelle passed over.<\/p>\n Brooke Pyke, a photographer based in Exmouth, also went to Graveyards and struggled to hold back her emotions at recounting the scene.<\/p>\n Photographer Brooke Pyke went to Graveyards beach after the cyclone \u2026 \u2018It was pretty devastating.\u2019 Photograph: Brooke Pyke Photography\u2018My theory is that everything that needs to come to the surface to breathe would have faced pretty intense and exhausting conditions.\u2019 Photograph: Brooke Pyke Photography<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard to put into words actually,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was pretty devastating. Harrowing.<\/p>\n \u201cMy theory is that everything that needs to come to the surface to breathe would have faced pretty intense and exhausting conditions. We didn\u2019t find any sharks or rays \u2013 maybe they could get a bit deeper.\u201d<\/p>\n Davies \u2013 who makes a living as a free diver, occasional stunt double, tour guide and photographer \u2013 is the founder of the Balu Blue Foundation conservation charity that cares for injured wildlife.<\/p>\n But with no permanent building, Davies took in more than 70 seabirds and other animals into her home and driveway in the days after the cyclone.<\/p>\n Sign up to get climate and environment editor Adam Morton\u2019s Clear Air column as a free newsletter<\/a><\/p>\n Many of the birds were \u201ctoo far gone\u201d, she said, but alongside other volunteers more than 20 have been nursed back to health and released.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope out of this, at least it shows we need a sustainable facility here [to care for wildlife]. It\u2019s insane what we just went through,\u201d Davies said.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of people have been saying this is just nature. But I think we\u2019ve affected the climate so much that I don\u2019t think this is just nature.\u201d<\/p>\n Historic storm<\/p>\n Cyclone Narelle was the first storm to make landfall as a severe system in three different states and territories since Tropical Cyclone Ingrid in 2005.<\/p>\n