WELL, just after we’d told you turtle sightings were way down at Hyde Park (“Turtles Hyding”, Voice, September 26, 2015) our photographer Matthew Dwyer stumbled across a pack of the shy reptiles this week.
While loitering in Hyde Park on a midday break he came across a woman tossing special turtle food in the water, her fluffy dog peering curiously down at them.
At least eight of the usually elusive oblong turtles were bobbing up and down, with Matthew reporting they were well disguised by green algae growing on their shells.
“They kept popping up to see who or what was around,” he says.
His tip for anyone trying to spot them is to keep an eye on the water’s surface to see the bumps of their eyes and nostrils poking up; picking their well-camouflaged shapes underwater is a hard ask.
Vincent council’s turtle study is being run by UWA and will attempt to microchip all turtles to determine the population number and see if they’re breeding, as other urban turtle populations likewise seem to be shrinking.
by DAVID BELL
Perth Voice Interactive 
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