Protect Lake Mac's Turtles - Lake Macquarie litter clean up

Help protect Lake Mac’s sea turtles by keeping litter out of our lake, catchment and marine environments.

Sustainable Neighbourhood groups are teaming up with Hunter Wildlife Rescue to protect our local sea turtles.

Join in our citywide litter clean up on Saturday 25 May, 10am-noon at a site near you:

• Blacksmiths - meet at Grannys Pool, off Ungala Road.
  
• Redhead - meet at Redhead Beach near the shark tower, off Beach Road car park.
• Toronto - meet at Toronto Lions Park, Anzac Parade.
• Valentine - meet near Valentine Bowling Club car park, off Valentine Crescent.

Please wear enclosed shoes and a hat, and bring gloves if you have them.

Registrations essential. Please get a free ticket to participate at your local site, so we know how many people to expect.
We are watching the weather forecast and hoping for a pleasant morning on Saturday. If we need to cancel, we will notify those who have registered via email by 9am Saturday morning.

Sea turtles in Lake Macquarie

Green turtles (Chelonia mydas) are regularly found along the Eastern NSW coastline and in Lake Macquarie itself. Many are attracted to the artificially warm waters around the Eraring power station outlet near Dora Creek.

Juvenile turtles feed on crabs, jellyfish and other marine creatures, and as adults they mainly eat seagrass, seaweed and algae.

Impacts of litter and marine debris

Marine debris is a major threat to marine ecosystems worldwide, and impacts turtles throughout their entire lifecycle. Sea turtles often mistake floating plastic for food. They can choke, sustain internal injury and die or starve. Plastic can also create pockets of air in their gut making diving difficult.

WWF Australia estimates that 52% of all sea turtles have eaten plastic particles.

Turtles can also suffer from boat strikes, pollution and fishing line entanglement. Fishing line entanglement ends in death most of the time for sea turtles.

Can't make it?
If you can't make it in the morning, you can join OzFish for their clean up at Speers Point at 2pm.

This activity is supported by Council's Eco Angel program.