Ningaloo region

Monitoring and management of Ningaloo turtles (DBCA)

Ningaloo Marine Park has regionally and globally significant nesting for “endangered” loggerhead and “vulnerable” green and hawksbill turtles, as listed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Commonwealth) and Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (WA) (Commonwealth of Australia 2017). The loggerhead rookery in Cape Range National Park is regarded as the largest mainland rookery for the Western Australian loggerhead genetic stock.  

The Ningaloo Turtle Program (NTP) was established by the predecessors of the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) and collaborating organisations in 2002, and is a flagship community volunteer turtle-monitoring program. The program tracks marine turtle nesting activity on an annual basis providing long term trends for species such as green, loggerhead and hawksbill turtles which feed, rest and nest within the Ningaloo Marine Park and Ningaloo Coast World Heritage Area.  

In the 2024-25 season, monitoring was completed along the North West Cape and Cape Range divisions, which consists of multiple beach subsections. A total of 2,829 suspected nests were recorded for three species of marine turtle: green, loggerhead and hawksbill. In the North West Cape division, the green turtle nest numbers ranked the season the seventh busiest season (out of 23 seasons), while it was the second lowest on record for loggerhead nests, and middle of the range for hawksbill nests. In the Cape Range division, loggerhead nest numbers  were the sixth lowest on record, while it was the  second lowest on record for hawksbills, and eighth lowest on record for green turtles compared to long-term averages. Further, 242 nests were assessed as being disturbed, with 238 of these attributed to ghost crabs. A total of 10 stranded turtles were rescued and returned to the ocean during beach monitoring patrols. 

The primary threat to emerging turtle hatchlings, is the golden ghost crab (a crab species endemic to Ningaloo) as crabs prey on turtle hatchlings immediately after emergence from nests as well as burrowing down into the egg chamber while the eggs are incubating. Woodside has provided financial support for studies and, based on these outcomes, DBCA have confirmed these ghost crabs are a major predator of green and loggerhead turtle hatchlings, at the major rookeries within the Ningaloo Coast UNESCO World Heritage Area. These studies formed the basis of investigation strategies to decrease predation on loggerhead turtle eggs and hatchlings along the Ningaloo Coast. In 2024-25 turtle nesting season at Ningaloo, DBCA have trialled elements of the strategies with partial funding support from Woodside.   

The NTP and ghost crab research supports the long-term ecological understanding of these threatened and migratory marine turtle species and allows for better environmental management at key nesting locations in Western Australia.  Woodside and Joint Venture Participants have committed funds to support the NTP up to and including the 2026-27 turtle nesting season.

Green turtle nesting. Emma Congear; and Green turtle returning to the water. Shannon Corbett

Understanding Ningaloo Reef - Ningaloo Outlook (CSIRO)

In 2025 Woodside continued to support the Ningaloo Outlook Program, which is focused on advancing scientific research to increase the understanding of the Ningaloo Reef and its iconic marine life, and specifically to increase the ecological understanding of the Ningaloo Coast World Heritage Area’s deep and shallow reefs and the whale shark and turtle populations. 

The research included 65 expeditions and dozens of scientists, who collected a wide range of data using diverse tools, from autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) to satellite tracking devices. Deep reef surveys, where diving is challenging, relied on a combination of remote video, autonomous vehicles and remote submersibles, while divers covered more than 100 km of shallow reef habitat. Researchers tagged more than 660 individual turtles, whale sharks and coastal sharks using methods ranging from simple metal tags to advanced acoustic and satellite tracking technologies. 

The program supported a range of research activities, funded seven PhD scholarships,  published over 40 research papers in international peer reviewed journals, and delivered more than 100 presentations at scientific conferences and meetings across Australia and internationally.  The Ningaloo Outlook program encouraged active participation by Woodside staff and the Exmouth community, and Indigenous rangers were actively involved in the turtle tagging field activities.  Over 2,000 members of the public, including school children, local community members and tourists to the region, participated in the research and education activities, with more reached through public talks and online resources. In 2025, the Ningaloo Outlook Community Event was held in Exmouth celebrating ten years of collaborative research into the rich biodiversity of Western Australia’s Ningaloo Coast. This scientific knowledge continues to be shared with government and industry, as well as the broader community.

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Ningaloo Outlook community event. Damian Thomson, CSIRO; and Ningaloo from the air. Nick Thake, Nick Thake Photo Video

King Reef within Exmouth Gulf

King Reef became Australia’s first integrated artificial reef in 2018, repurposing steel structures donated from Woodside’s Griffin Field augmented with purpose built concrete reef modules. The reef was a result of a five-year community vision, which was expanded due to the formation of a consortium including the Western Australian Government, academia, engineers, Woodside and Recfishwest. 

King Reef experienced rapid colonisation post deployment, exceeding the expectations of abundance, species diversity and biomass of fishes observed at natural reef and sand habitats in the Exmouth Gulf. Over 100 species of fish were observed through community monitoring in the first four years. The reef is now championed by the local recreational fishing community, supported by a Woodside funded reef monitoring and citizen science project, and is a pioneer of successful marine habitat enhancement, utilising repurposed infrastructure from the oil and gas industry.  

In 2022, the ongoing King Reef research and monitoring program contributed over 100 hours of baited remote underwater video footage on the reef. This included what experts believe to be the first sighted juvenile red emperors on film in the Exmouth Gulf. The baited remote underwater video footage has also driven community engagement by highlighting the reef’s rapid ecological development. 

The research is building one of the most comprehensive benthic marine invertebrate tissue libraries in Australia to support future eDNA surveys. All specimens are registered within the Western Australian Museum’s Aquatic Zoology collection, creating a legacy resource to underpin future benthic biodiversity research in the region.