Western Australia’s first inland Marine Turtle Intensive Care Facility is providing veterinarians with a specialised seawater filtration system to stabilise and treat sick and injured sea turtles in tanks.
Located at WA Wildlife, the facility is unique because it operates away from the coast, requiring marine conditions to be recreated inland for animals undergoing treatment and recovery. The system includes temperature-controlled saltwater tanks, mechanical filtration, ultraviolet sterilisation and protein skimming, all designed to maintain water quality while supporting veterinary care.
“Providing intensive care for marine turtles inland is a challenge and requires carefully controlled water quality, temperature and circulation similar to the ocean,” said Dr Dulana Herath, aquatic biologist and founder of PASES Aqua.
“It is not simply a matter of filling a tank with seawater. The system must consistently break down nutrients from animal waste and recreate suitable marine water quality parameters while also being practical for daily veterinary use.”
Unlike coastal rehabilitation settings, the inland location creates additional logistical and environmental challenges. Seawater must be trucked to site, stored and used within a controlled treatment system. At the same time, saline wastewater cannot be discharged into the surrounding environment.
Because the facility is located on a wetland, used saltwater and backwash water must be captured and properly removed rather than released onsite.
“One of the major challenges was making sure the system could function effectively in a wetland setting,” Dr Herath said.
“You cannot allow saltwater discharge to affect a sensitive freshwater environment, so the wastewater management component was a critical part of the design.
“This project required us to think not only about the needs of the turtles, but also about the surrounding ecosystem,” Dr Herath added.
The facility has now been operating successfully for approximately one year, with the system continuing to perform reliably while supporting turtle care and recovery.
Its development demonstrates that specialist marine wildlife rehabilitation infrastructure can be established inland when water quality, temperature control, system design and environmental protection are all properly considered.
