Endangered olive ridley turtle hatchlings emerging from their nest and charging for the sea in the Kimberley have been filmed by park rangers in a first for Western Australia.
Environment Minister Albert Jacob said the footage had generated excitement among marine scientists and the Dambimangari traditional owners of the area because the species was rarely seen in WA.
"This species has never before been filmed in WA and rarely anywhere else in Australia," Minister Jacob said.
"It has only recently been discovered that olive ridley turtles nest in WA and they have never before been recorded from the beach where they were filmed.
"They are extremely scarce, so to witness this hatchling event is significant and helps to increase scientists' understanding of the species in Australia."
The Department's marine ranger Cameron Smith recorded the event with Dambimangari traditional owner Kieran Bangmorra.
The olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) is the smallest of Australia's sea turtles and only grows to about 70 centimetres long.
