On one side of the limestone wall, people get their steps in, children ride their bikes, and cars zoom past. They are oblivious to the tiny creatures emerging from Bibra Lake on the other side, in search of somewhere to lay their eggs.

Abbey Kaesehagen is one of the many volunteers watching over the southwestern snake-necked turtles, which have called the area home for thousands of years. But for her, turtle tracking is about more than protecting local wildlife. It has given her a sense of peace through one of the most difficult periods of her life. Fighting cancer.

“The only thing that made me feel good was going out and turtle tracking, and it took my mind off it,” Kaesehagen says “Getting biopsies, waiting for the results, it’s very anxiety provoking. Turtle tracking was the only time I felt okay.”

As the southwestern snake-necked turtles rise from Cockburn’s wetlands, there is growing pressure from habitat loss, predators and vehicle strikes. While not formally listed as a threatened species, there are rising concerns about declining populations around Perth’s urban wetlands. Volunteers like Kaesehagen are helping to give them the best chance of survival, spending more than 2800 hours tracking turtles as part of a City of Cockburn effort that protected 358 nests in 2025–2026. The hours are the highest of any community or local government turtle tracking team working within the Saving Our Snake-Necked Turtle program in WA.

The turtle trackers volunteer their time to monitor nesting turtles, record their movements and help protect their nests from threats such as predators and busy roads. It is more than just counting turtles; it is about protecting a part of Cockburn’s natural environment for generations to come.

Kaesehagen’s connection with wildlife began long before she became a turtle tracker. She grew up with a passion for wildlife, rescuing her first animal when she was just four.

She was jogging along the gravel path around Bibra Lake, a place she had visited for years, when she first encountered people in high-vis vests scouring the lake. “I saw my first turtle, and I helped that across the road,” Kaesehagen says. “I started talking to these people and realised this was something I could do. So, I signed up.”

What began as a chance encounter has become a commitment and passion to protect one of the oldest species that call the wetlands home. Kaesehagen is part of Walliabup Wildlife Warriors, a group of local volunteers funded by the City of Cockburn to monitor and track turtles at Bibra Lake. They spend long hours in the summer heat, and the sight of turtles crushed on the roads and the threat of predators all take an emotional toll.

“We’re very supportive of one another,” Kaesehagen says. “You just feel part of a community, which I think is really rare nowadays.”

Despite the challenges, she finds the experience rewarding. Watching a turtle emerge from the water, poking their heads out as they make their way towards land to nest and start a new life for their hatchlings. Volunteers require a lot of patience and concentration, leaving little room for the worries of everyday life.

“It’s the only time in my life where I feel my mind goes quiet,” Kaesehagen says. “I don’t think about other things that are troubling me.”

While turtle tracking has given Kaesehagen a sense of peace, protecting the turtles requires hours of patience and dedication.

Ainsley Goldsack is one of the coordinators at Bibra Lake, helping lead the effort to monitor the turtles during nesting season from September to December. Volunteers pace themselves up and down the foreshore, watching for female turtles emerging from the water to lay their eggs. When a turtle begins nesting, trackers observe its movements and record information, while helping protect vulnerable nests from predators.

Their efforts contribute to a wider community program focused on protecting the turtles and the wetlands they depend on. “They are a keystone species of our wetlands,” Goldsack says. “If you have a happy turtle population, you generally have happy wetlands.”

Bibra Lake protected 158 nests last season. “We would have seen probably about 250 to 300 turtles last season,” Goldsack says.

While protecting the nests and leading them to safety, not all the turtles can be saved. As soon as they set foot on land, the turtles face all kinds of challenges and threats from predators such as foxes and ravens.

“They generally run around in the evenings or early mornings, and they can dig up all the nests and eat the adult turtles as well,” Goldsack says. “Car strikes are a huge thing, and just people in general. When we lose an adult turtle, we could potentially be losing up to 15 to 20 years before the next mature turtle can reproduce again.”

Other wetlands in Cockburn, such as Manning Park, are also tracking. Carrie Russell, local volunteer and coordinator of Manning Park, has been tracking turtles for about four years.

“I love the fact that we’re helping these beautiful reptiles, cause they’re actually quite threatened,” Russell says. “I love being in nature, and getting some vitamin D is always good for you as well.”

Russell expects this season to be bigger than the last, with turtle numbers rising. “Last season, we had 137 nests, so I probably saw about 20 turtles myself and the season before, we only had 31 nests all up,” she says.

In September, Cockburn council announced a rehabilitation plan for the western foreshore of Bibra Lake. Designed to improve the southwestern snake-necked turtles’ habitat, it provides alternative nest-protection methods that allow more extensive rehabilitation work, including weed management and revegetation.

City of Cockburn mayor Logan Howlett welcomes the decision and supports the volunteers. “Having the turtle trackers engaged now, across the city and other locations, is a wonderful initiative,” he says. “The amount of hours is quite amazing. When you look back and see reports that are sent through on a regular basis, we can see the commitment of the volunteers to the particular project.”

In August, the Cockburn council voted to trial a 10km/h speed limit reduction on Hope Road, Progress Drive and Bibra Drive during the 2027 turtle nesting season from September to December. These roads surround Bibra Lake, where trackers Goldsack and Kaesehagen keep watch.

The city could also feature a turtle underpass at Progress Drive, providing a specialised wildlife crossing beneath the road to help turtles avoid being hit by cars. “I think we do need to do more than that, and possibly potential road closures at different times of the year,” Howlett says.

The city asks the public to follow these easy steps if they see a turtle:

• Inform a turtle tracker if one is on-site
• Support them in the direction they were heading
• Protect them from predators
• Take any injured turtles to WA Wildlife
• Ensure dogs are on a lead
• And most importantly, drive slowly around wetlands

Volunteers will continue to do everything they can to keep them safe. “The more you do it, the more aware you become of how vulnerable these creatures are and how many hurdles they come up against, and you do start to feel really protective,” Kaesehagen says. “The group in itself, we’re all friends, and it’s really nice working with your mates and doing something you’re all passionate about.”

Turtle trackers urge members of the public to follow directions and treat wildlife, including turtles, with respect. “The more support we can get from the members of the public and the awareness we can get out, the easier our job’s going to be on the ground,” Goldsack says.

Want to help the turtles? For more information about the Saving Our Snake-Necked Turtle program and opportunities to get involved, visit the SOSNT website.