Known as Turtle Island, Xiaoliuqiu made a rare record this year of a nesting mother sea turtle coming ashore as early as February. Over the past few months, this female has laid seven clutches of eggs at Haiban Bay, and local association volunteers have stepped up beach patrols in hopes of seeing the hatchlings safely out of their shells. Yet just as the peak nesting season approaches, a business operator is planning to hold a "Venice Music Festival" on the beach area around Haiban Bay, headlining a million-dollar sound and light show along with DJ events that rage on until the early hours of the morning.
Do you think the Venice Music Festival at Xiaoliuqiu is really necessary?
Although the organizers emphasize that the event will not take place on the beach itself, the lights and surrounding noise will still disturb nesting mothers coming ashore, as well as hatchlings about to make their way to the sea. Earlier this year, Chen Li-shu, Director of the Industry-Academia Exchange Division at the National Museum of Marine Science and Technology, visited Heron Island on Australia's Great Barrier Reef and shared how this world-renowned destination manages sea turtle nesting while integrating ecotourism with conservation education.
Heron Island's "Ecological Education" Is the Tourism Highlight
Heron Island sits at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef. It is both a resort and a national park, and the island hosts the oldest and largest marine research station on the entire Great Barrier Reef. Every year from November through March, the sea turtle nesting season draws many visitors who linger on the beach hoping to witness a turtle coming ashore to lay her eggs.
Director Chen observed that the island seamlessly blends tourism with ecotourism: the resort contributes funding to the research station, while the island's researchers and a large team of ecological volunteers shoulder the responsibility of public education.
"On the day I visited, at least 80 female turtles came up onto the beach looking for a place to nest." It wasn't just the turtles everywhere on the beach that left a strong impression on Director Chen — it was the reminders at every turn. In addition to signboards displaying "turtle-watching guidelines" posted throughout the island, volunteers and researchers patrolling the resort and the beach continuously reminded visitors of the rules and offered guided explanations. Director Chen couldn't help but express her admiration: "I deeply respect them — no matter how busy they are, they always stop to patiently explain things to the public."
Heron Island is home to the largest marine research station on the Great Barrier Reef, where researchers and volunteers provide guided tours and explanations to visitors. Image source: Heron Island official website
Protecting the "Turtle Nursery" — Strict Rules Become Common Ground
Director Chen noted that during nesting season, any non-essential light source can interfere with a sea turtle's ability to navigate its path — potentially causing a nesting female to abandon her clutch and retreat to the sea, while also causing newborn hatchlings to follow artificial light sources and veer away from the ocean. On Heron Island, reducing light has become a shared understanding. Director Chen provided the island's official guidelines:
Heron Island Sea Turtle Nesting Season Reminders
To allow hatchlings to reach the sea without human interference, artificial lighting around the beach must be avoided. Flash Light, street lights, and light from hotel rooms can all cause hatchlings to lose their way. Visitors are therefore asked to:
- Turn off balcony lights
- Draw curtains at night
- Refrain from using Flash Lights and avoid flash photography
Director Chen specifically noted that although there is actually a considerable distance between the beach and the ocean-facing rooms at the resort, everyone cooperates and turns off their lights to minimize impact as much as possible — it is both a rule and an unspoken understanding on the island. She shared a real-world example: in the past, a sea turtle once followed a faint light source all the way to the research station, and it took tremendous effort to move the turtle back to the sea.
From November each year through March, Heron Island's sea turtle nesting season gives every visitor the chance to stroll the beach and witness this sight firsthand — and strict guidelines are in place requiring visitors to comply. Image source: Heron Island official website
Heron Island Turtle-Watching Guidelines
Watching sea turtles nest at Heron Island is an experience open to every visitor, and there are clear instructions on how to behave around turtles — guidelines that everyone must follow.
- Do not use lights near the beach, and flash photography is strictly prohibited.
- If you see a sea turtle, crouch down and stay still, as turtles are highly sensitive to their surroundings.
- If you see a sea turtle, maintain a distance of at least ten metres from it.
- If you see a sea turtle, stay behind it.
- Avoid walking along the high-tide line on the beach, as there may be many egg clutches beneath the sand.
- Do not touch the turtles, and do not dig hatchlings out of their nests.
Director Chen also mentioned that because humans have been feeding seagulls, the seagull population on Heron Island has grown — posing a potential threat to hatchlings' survival. As a result, "do not feed the wildlife" has become an important reminder in recent years as well.
Turtle Canneries, Turtle Riding… Heron Island's "Dark History"
Striking a balance between tourism and ecology is never easy. Director Chen shared some of the island's history, recalling that before tourism and ecology learned to coexist, "there used to be a sea turtle cannery here, and 'riding sea turtles' was once a popular activity."
In the 1920s, the island housed a sea turtle canning factory that primarily supplied products to the United Kingdom. But as turtle populations plummeted and profits dried up, the operation shut down. Later, a ship captain who saw the island's potential built a resort — though the resort's popular activity at the time was "turtle riding," a practice that was not banned until the 1960s.
The Heron Island resort also incorporates the island's tourism evolution as a guided-tour theme, inviting visitors to reflect together on the balance between ecology and tourism. Image source: Heron Island official website
The island's rich ecological resources led to the gradual establishment of a national park and research station, drawing many visitors eager to witness sea turtles nesting. Director Chen laughed as she recounted that while staying in the research station dormitory, the sound of one or two hundred thousand herons calling to each other in courtship was truly astonishing — but most visitors stay at the resort and are unaffected. "The general feeling across the island is that making ecotourism the core of the visitor experience has also raised the overall quality of travel."
A Million-Dollar Light-and-Sound Show vs. Switching Off a Light — What's Your Choice?
It takes a sea turtle at least 20 years from birth to reach reproductive maturity, at which point it returns to its birthplace to mate and nest. When the nesting season for mother turtles overlaps heavily with peak travel season, recreational activity will inevitably have some degree of impact on the ecosystem.
There are still many sources of artificial light around Haiban Bay, the sea turtle nesting beach — all of which can misdirect turtles trying to find their way to the sea.
As you soak up the island holiday atmosphere, once night falls you can choose to revel in the excitement of a million-dollar light-and-sound show on the beach — or you can switch off a light and let the turtles find their way safely back to the sea. What will your choice be?
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