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Volunteering at Thevenard Island
The Thevenard Island monitoring program is a unique experience where volunteers stay in cabins located metres away from a medium-density turtle nesting beach. The program runs from mid-November to mid-December each year for four weeks. Monitoring on Thevenard involves both night-time tagging and island wide morning track counts.
Thevenard Island is located approximately 22km off the coast from Onslow in Thalanyji Country, in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The island is the largest of a group of ten islands called the Mackerel Islands. Thevenard Island is a class C nature reserve but has a resort situated on the eastern end. The island is about 6km long and occupies 550 hectares.
Key points
Monitoring on Thevenard Island includes flipper tagging, PIT tagging, morphometric measurements, biopsy sampling, nest marking, and track counts.
Accommodation on the island is a resort and volunteers share rooms (two people per room). A kitchen, bathroom and all normal amenities are provided. Phone reception is available but can be limited at times. Volunteers are free to swim, go fishing, or explore the island in their time off.
Casual clothing for all conditions, sunglasses, hat, water bottle, sunscreen, towel/sarong, toiletries, medication, personal items, books and/or music, and fishing/swimming/snorkelling gear.
Information for volunteers
A flatback turtle returns to the water on Thevenard Island. Photo - DBCA
Volunteers on Thevenard Island, 2023. Photo - Clodagh Guildea/DBCA
Volunteers examining turtle eggs on Thevenard Island, 2023. Photo - Clodagh Guildea/DBCA
Volunteers observing a flatback turtle nesting on Thevenard Island, 2017. Photo - DBCA
Volunteers about to board a light plane back to Exmouth on Thevenard Island, 2023. Photo - Clodagh Guildea/DBCA
Beachfront cabins on Thevenard Island. Photo - Clodagh Guildea/DBCA
Volunteers observing a flatback turtle nesting on Thevenard Island. Photo - DBCA
Turtle tracks on Thevenard Island. Photo - Narelle Brook/Mackerel Islands
A flatback turtle nests near Thevenard Island accommodation. Photo - DBCA