Who lives in the dunes?
Issued: 6 Feb

Built up by wind, stabilised by plants and colonised by animals, these ridges of sand are important, but fragile, ecosystems that often bear the brunt of our seaside adventures.

Sand dunes, and their inhabitants, can handle, even thrive on, salt spray, sand blasts and flooding by sea water. But they’re not indestructible. Rangers are seeing how susceptible to damage by everyday human activities, like walking to the beach for a swim and driving to and from camping and fishing spots, they are.

Queensland’s beaches are synonymous with sun, surf, sand and swimming. As you stand on the beach looking out over the sea, don’t forget to turn around and spare a thought for the sand dunes and their inhabitants.

Why protect dunes?

Vegetated dunes serve as a natural barrier against storm surges and high waves, helping reduce coastal flooding, and are a reservoir of sand to nourish the beach during periods of wave erosion.

Dune vegetation traps and holds sand blown from the beach, aiding dune build-up and stopping sand from being blown inland.

Sand dunes also provide important habitat and nesting sites for native wildlife—the dune dwellers—many of which are rare and threatened species.

Who are the dune dwellers?

Sand dunes are an important habitat for a diverse variety of wildlife which Rangers regularly spot, including providing nesting sites and refuges from predators.

Here are just a few of the dune dwellers who need our help to protect them and their fragile home.

Terrific turtles

Queensland’s coast has some of the most important marine turtle nesting sites in the world. There are 6 threatened species—including the endangered loggerhead turtle and the vulnerable green turtle—known to visit our beaches from November to April each year.

Female turtles commence their fortnightly nesting trips, crawling out of the sea and dragging themselves up the beach to a carefully selected nest site in the dunes above the high-tide line. After excavating a vertical egg chamber (between 30 and 60cm deep) with their hind flippers, they’ll lay a clutch of about 120 leather-shelled eggs. After laying, the egg chamber is filled in before the turtles finally crawl back to the sea about 1 to 3 hours after emerging.

After about 7 to 12 weeks, all going well, the turtle eggs hatch. The hatchlings take 2 or more days to reach the surface where they emerge as a group, usually at night. To find the sea, hatchlings orient towards the brightest light and use the topography of the surrounding horizon line to find the water. Crossing the beach and swimming away is believed to imprint the hatchlings with the cues necessary to find their way back when they are ready to breed.

Stupendous shorebirds

Each year, several shorebird species come to Queensland’s coastlines to lay eggs in a shallow scrape of sand in the protection of the sand dunes. They typically nest through spring and summer, which is also when most people also flock to the beach (see what we did there?).

Endangered little terns  (Sternula albifrons) and red-capped plovers  (Charadrius ruficapillus) are 2 shorebird species threatened by beach driving and dune disturbance.

The beach stone-curlew  (Esacus neglectus), one of the world’s largest shorebirds, is a threatened species listed as vulnerable in Queensland. With their repeated, mournful wailing ‘wee loo’ call, you’re more likely to hear them before you see them. Between September and November, they lay a single egg in a shallow ditch in the sand, just above the high-tide line.

How can you help?

Sand dunes protect us and their wildlife dwellers, so let’s protect them. Here’s how you can help:

• Choose not to drive on dunes. Vehicle tyres destroy dune vegetation and can also squash or compact nests housing precious eggs. Only cross sand dunes at designated crossing points for access to and from the beach.
• Plan your beach driving around the low tides and travel on the hard compacted sand between the water and the high tide mark. Staying low is the way to go. Wheel ruts provide an obstacle for turtle hatchlings and can prevent them making their way down to the water.
• Avoid driving on the beach at night. Turtles need dark beaches to nest successfully and light from vehicles and torches can disturb them. Many dune-dwelling wildlife are also nocturnal.
• If driving on the beach is unavoidable, then be alert, slow down, stop and wait for any marine turtles and hatchlings crossing the beach. Enjoy the magic moment while allowing them to reach the dunes, or the ocean, before continuing to drive.
• Only use the designated tracks and follow signs. Choose not to climb sand dunes or take short cuts. Walking and climbing on dunes can damage or kill the plants that hold them together, weakening the dune and leading to accelerated erosion.
• Only camp in designated beach camping areas. Beach campers can also help by using established tracks to access campsites and keeping camp lights low. From 7:30pm, position your lights so they face away from the beach, shade lights to reduce the illuminated area and only use a small torch (less than 100 lumens) on the beach. Cut the Glow to help Turtles Go!

Where your tyres, and feet, tread matters. On sand dunes, let’s ensure the only tracks we see are those that belong to wildlife.