A 50-year-old loggerhead turtle named STAr is shining new light on the behaviour of the endangered marine animals.
The nesting turtle mother has been fitted with a tracking device that is unlocking secrets about loggerheads' lives in Queensland's Wide Bay.
Queensland Parks and Wildlife Mon Repos ranger-in-charge Cathy Gatley said rangers did not know where STAr lived.
"We wanted to know where her safe home feeding ground was," she said.
Ms Gatley said after laying her fourth clutch of the season at Mon Repos in February, the mother travelled south into the Great Sandy Strait.
"Initially she was sort of at the top of the strait near the Mary River, and then she's gone right down to the bottom," she said.
"That is where her foraging or her home feeding ground is, so where she spends the majority of her life."
Ms Gatley said it was an "exciting" discovery.
"We've never recorded one of our loggerhead turtles as having that area for a feeding ground before," she said.
"By STAr giving away some secrets here, she's helping other turtles around her by giving us some information on what she's doing."
The tracker showed STAr travelled about 125 kilometres in just seven days during February.
Many years, many clutches
Ms Gatley said STAr had been visiting Mon Repos for more than 20 years.
"She first started nesting with us in 2002, that was her first ever breeding season," she said.
"She would have been about 30 years of age at the time – that's when our loggerhead turtles commence breeding.
"We've seen her back for a number of nesting seasons since that time."
Ms Gatley said STAr was an "old girl".
"It's always exciting to see turtles that we've got a long history with, coming back ashore to nest," she said.
"We're always learning something.
"By learning things like this we can put that across what we're doing to manage and protect turtles."
The Mon Repos Conservation Park supports the largest concentration of nesting marine turtles on the eastern Australian mainland.
Hundreds of turtles make their way to Mon Repos to lay their eggs between November and March each year.
Their hatchlings emerge towards the end of the season.
"We've got lots of visitors coming on the tours to see hatchlings emerging [at the moment]," Ms Gatley said.
"It's just lovely to see over 100 hatchlings pop out of a nest and make their first journey down into the ocean.
"We've had quite a bit of rain and that helps keep moisture in the dunes, and we're seeing a really good hatch success at the moment across the season."
