Glencore Loggerhead Project supports endangered turtle research
Raised at James Cook University’s (JCU) Turtle Health Research facility, 13 four-year-old baby loggerhead sea turtles wearing tracking devices were released into the waters off the coast of Bowen late last year.
The turtles were collected when they were a few weeks old from Mon Repos, the largest loggerhead nesting beach in Queensland.
In 2022, when they came into the Centre, the hatchlings weighed between 20-25 grams. Two years on, under the watchful eye of the Turtle Health Research team, the largest baby turtle had reached 10 kilograms and when released in November 2025, Turbo, the biggest of the group, weighed a hefty 27.5 kilograms.
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Group of baby turtles.
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Ready, set, Great Barrier Reef here I come! Turbo on his way to the ocean for the first time.
Glencore’s Corporate Social Investment Fund provided $150,000 over three years to undertake research projects which focused on collecting baseline health data and increasing knowledge around the ‘lost years’ of post hatchling and juvenile loggerhead sea turtles. Sadly, mortality rates for baby loggerhead turtles can reach as high as 70 percent.
The reddish-brown turtle is listed as endangered. With little known about the first years of a loggerhead turtle’s life, the research aims to reverse declining numbers and boost the turtle’s chances of long-term survival in the wild.
Professor Mark Hamann, Director of JCU’s Turtle Research Group said it was a major milestone to reach the release stage.
“We started to release the turtles off the boat near Bowen but when they all swam off strongly, we realised that a beach release would also work, so we launched another group from the beach.”
One of the juvenile turtles fitted with a satellite transmitter being released into the coastal waters off Bowen, Queensland.
“The release was planned in collaboration with Gudjuda Rangers, from Gudjuda Aboriginal Corporation who joined 12 of our JCU research team on the day. Turtles are an important species for North Queensland First Nations peoples, so it was meaningful to have the Gudjuda Rangers involved,” says Professor Hamann.
The turtles were fitted with tracking devices and are being closely monitored by researchers and the Gudjuda Rangers to follow their movements throughout the ocean waters.
Jessica Grimm, JCU’s Academic Coordinator, Veterinary Sciences said she’s excited to see where the turtles go and what they do, as it’s all still a bit of a mystery.
“Since their release we’ve found that one stayed near its release site in Bowen and the others all headed east, out into the East Australian Current and moved south. Our largest turtle, Turbo, has travelled the furthest, making it down near Lord Howe Island,” says Jessica.
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Jessica Grimm, JCU’s Academic Coordinator, Veterinary Sciences with a tiny hatchling on arrival day into the research facility in 2022.
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Jessica prepares ‘Turbo’ for release on the beach in Bowen - November 2025.
Townsville Copper Refinery and Port Operations Manager, Paul Taylor, says Glencore recognises the importance of supporting a diverse range of initiatives within the community, including environmental projects.
“We were keen to get behind this project from the start. It was a privilege to be offered the opportunity to contribute to the conservation of this endangered turtle species and support their journey through to the release phase.”
Paul Taylor, Manager Copper Refinery and Port Operations at the project launch in 2022, with previous Centre Director, Professor Ellen Ariel, holding a loggerhead turtle hatchling.
We acknowledge the work of JCU’s Turtle Health Research Centre and its significance to the loggerhead turtle’s ongoing survival in the wild.
We wish the team continued success in their research efforts to increase the presence of precious loggerhead sea turtles in Australian waters and around the world.