Nyul Nyul Back to Country Trip | Lacepedes

In August, the Nyul Nyul Rangers, in collaboration with the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, hosted a Back to Country trip for Nyul Nyul Traditional Owners to the remote Lacepede Islands.

The trip brought together young and senior Traditional Owners to connect with a special and often inaccessible part of Nyul Nyul Country.

The Lacepedes hold deep cultural significance for Nyul Nyul people and the wider Kimberley saltwater coast. They are also one of the region’s most important breeding sites for Green Sea Turtles. With climate change driving coastal erosion and rising nesting temperatures, research is underway to better understand, monitor and protect this important turtle rookery.

Indigenous knowledge and on-Country experience are an important part of this work. For those caring for and advocating for the health of Country, being able to visit, learn from and experience these places firsthand is invaluable.

From the Middle Lagoon area, the group made the 44 km journey out to the Lacepedes, visiting the West, Middle and East Islands. Once ashore, the group retrieved buried temperature loggers used to monitor turtle nesting temperatures.

The rangers reported that the islands were alive with wildlife. Countless Green Sea Turtles could be seen in the shallows, while turtle tracks were already visible along the sandy beaches despite it being relatively early in the nesting season. Thousands of Brown Boobies and their fluffy white chicks watched on as the group explored the islands, while migrating humpback whales passed by on their journey north to warmer breeding grounds.

Each afternoon, the group returned to camp as the sun set over the horizon, sharing a feed and yarns around the fire about the day on Country.

For many on the trip, the Lacepedes had long been a distant part of Nyul Nyul Country, known through stories and maps, but rarely experienced firsthand.