Research at North Stradbroke Island is shining light on the local impact of mountains of rubbish floating around the world’s oceans. Dr Qamar Schuyler is a CSIRO marine scientist based at Stradbroke Island, in Queensland’s Moreton Bay, studying how the increasing presence of plastics is being swept to even the world’s most remote beaches by ocean currents. This is increasingly taking a toll on marine animals, such as turtles. Her research has found that that more than 50 per cent of turtles around the world have ingested debris. The findings also show it takes fewer than 20 pieces of plastic to be ingested, to kill a turtle.
