Sea turtle diets, lifespan and migratory patterns were largely a mystery 50 years ago when young Bundaberg man Col Limpus put his hand up to help with a four-year research project.
Half a century later, Col Limpus from the Mon Repos Turtle Centre is one of 50 people to be appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for his work in turtle conservation.
The chief scientific officer with the Department of Environment and Science's threatened species unit said much had changed over the years.
"When I started back in the 1960s the idea of being able to put a radio transmitter on a turtle and be able to get the information coming back to you just was an impossible dream. Now it's fairly routine," Dr Limpus said.
Changing conditions pose new threat
He said while the understanding of the species had dramatically improved over the years, new problems had emerged.
"We're now getting to temperatures on our beaches, like the last four summers, where they're so hot that a lot of the eggs are dying," he said.
"Forty years ago when we had a dead turtle wash ashore and you open it up to see what it'd been eating we didn't say 'Look at this lot of plastic'. Now this is a common thing."
'Comical' introduction to turtle research
Dr Limpus grew up visiting Bundaberg beaches before embarking on a four-year project helping researchers with local knowledge.
"I find it almost comical that I'm involved in sea turtles almost by accident," he said.
"As I say lately I just got carried away a bit.
"You start off with one question about whether they nest and then where they come from because they don't live locally and so we start looking at migration, so there's been a progression of quite different aspects of science involved."
