Latest news with #WWF-Australia
The Advertiser
3 days ago
- General
- The Advertiser
High sea hopes for treaty to preserve vast underwater
Between Australia and New Zealand sits a chain of underwater volcanoes that are home to an abundance of fish, ancient corals and other marine life. Known as Lord Howe Rise, the vast underwater landscape largely exists outside state maritime boundaries, beneath the high seas. That makes the ecologically-rich habitat fair game for industrial fishing, including long-lining and bottom-trawling techniques in the spotlight following the latest instalment from acclaimed nature documentarian David Attenborough. Footage in Ocean powerfully reveals to viewers for the first time, trawlers dragging heavy nets across the sea bed in an indiscriminate search for just a few prized species. As well as scooping up vast volumes of bycatch, such trawling has been found to churn up carbon that would have otherwise stayed locked in place on the sea floor, some of which ends up in the atmosphere to fuel climate change. The documentary lands ahead of a major United Nations ocean conference in France in June. Conservation groups are hopeful the film will help garner support for a landmark treaty to better protect the roughly two-thirds of marine habitat outside the boundaries of individual countries. The high seas biodiversity agreement would lay the foundations to safeguard 30 per cent of the world's oceans by 2030 in marine sanctuaries, helping preserve threatened species and support fish stocks for communities reliant on the food source. Australia was a founding signatory to the agreement in 2023 and the re-elected Albanese government has promised to ratify its commitment "as quickly as possible", according to thee Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. "Australia is one of a small number of countries that requires implementing legislation to be in place before the treaty can be ratified," a spokesperson says. A multi-agency government delegation still being finalised is set to attend to conference in France. To bring the treaty into force, 60 countries need to enshrine the treaty in national law via ratification. So far, about 40 have either done so or signalled that they will. WWF-Australia head of oceans and sustainable development Richard Leck is confident the treaty will come into force. "But it means countries like Australia, who have indicated they support the treaty, really need to step up to their parliamentary processes and make sure that that actually gets through their systems," he says. Greenpeace Australia Pacific senior oceans campaigner Georgia Whittaker says marine animals are being "pushed closer to the brink of extinction" every day that passes without stronger protections. Fresh analysis of fisheries data from the environmental campaigners reveals damage caused by industrial longline fishing - long stretches of baited hooks - to shark populations. Almost half a million near-threatened blue sharks were taken as bycatch in the the central and western Pacific in 2023, the highest number ever recorded and double 2015 numbers. Greenpeace has been angling for a marine sanctuary in the Lord Howe Rise and Tasman Sea region in anticipation of the oceans treaty going ahead. Marine scientist and Research Connect Blue director Rachel Przeslawski says there is still much to learn about the diverse underwater tracts off Australia's east coast. The mighty chain of seamounts - underwater mountains - experience an inverse relationship to biodiversity to that of their on-land cousins. Life is most abundant higher on the peaks, where there's more sunlight and nutrients, with visiting humpback whales and other migratory species among the creatures found in their midst. The deeper waters of the surrounding abyssal plains tend to host sparser populations of "weird critters" that have adapted to dark, nutrient-poor and hostile conditions. Some seamounts are as shallow as 200m and a few breach the surface, Lord Howe Island and Middleton and Elizabeth reefs among them. Australian trawlers are no longer active in the area but vessels from other countries are causing damage, Dr Przeslawski tells AAP, with sea beds taking years or even decades to recover. She says any marine sanctuaries devised under a high seas agreement would ideally be completely no-take. Many existing marine parks are only partially protected, with permitted sections to be fished or mined. "Is it going to be toothless?" Dr Przeslawski asks. "Or will it actually have some bite and the ability to affect some of these really ecologically damaging activities?" Between Australia and New Zealand sits a chain of underwater volcanoes that are home to an abundance of fish, ancient corals and other marine life. Known as Lord Howe Rise, the vast underwater landscape largely exists outside state maritime boundaries, beneath the high seas. That makes the ecologically-rich habitat fair game for industrial fishing, including long-lining and bottom-trawling techniques in the spotlight following the latest instalment from acclaimed nature documentarian David Attenborough. Footage in Ocean powerfully reveals to viewers for the first time, trawlers dragging heavy nets across the sea bed in an indiscriminate search for just a few prized species. As well as scooping up vast volumes of bycatch, such trawling has been found to churn up carbon that would have otherwise stayed locked in place on the sea floor, some of which ends up in the atmosphere to fuel climate change. The documentary lands ahead of a major United Nations ocean conference in France in June. Conservation groups are hopeful the film will help garner support for a landmark treaty to better protect the roughly two-thirds of marine habitat outside the boundaries of individual countries. The high seas biodiversity agreement would lay the foundations to safeguard 30 per cent of the world's oceans by 2030 in marine sanctuaries, helping preserve threatened species and support fish stocks for communities reliant on the food source. Australia was a founding signatory to the agreement in 2023 and the re-elected Albanese government has promised to ratify its commitment "as quickly as possible", according to thee Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. "Australia is one of a small number of countries that requires implementing legislation to be in place before the treaty can be ratified," a spokesperson says. A multi-agency government delegation still being finalised is set to attend to conference in France. To bring the treaty into force, 60 countries need to enshrine the treaty in national law via ratification. So far, about 40 have either done so or signalled that they will. WWF-Australia head of oceans and sustainable development Richard Leck is confident the treaty will come into force. "But it means countries like Australia, who have indicated they support the treaty, really need to step up to their parliamentary processes and make sure that that actually gets through their systems," he says. Greenpeace Australia Pacific senior oceans campaigner Georgia Whittaker says marine animals are being "pushed closer to the brink of extinction" every day that passes without stronger protections. Fresh analysis of fisheries data from the environmental campaigners reveals damage caused by industrial longline fishing - long stretches of baited hooks - to shark populations. Almost half a million near-threatened blue sharks were taken as bycatch in the the central and western Pacific in 2023, the highest number ever recorded and double 2015 numbers. Greenpeace has been angling for a marine sanctuary in the Lord Howe Rise and Tasman Sea region in anticipation of the oceans treaty going ahead. Marine scientist and Research Connect Blue director Rachel Przeslawski says there is still much to learn about the diverse underwater tracts off Australia's east coast. The mighty chain of seamounts - underwater mountains - experience an inverse relationship to biodiversity to that of their on-land cousins. Life is most abundant higher on the peaks, where there's more sunlight and nutrients, with visiting humpback whales and other migratory species among the creatures found in their midst. The deeper waters of the surrounding abyssal plains tend to host sparser populations of "weird critters" that have adapted to dark, nutrient-poor and hostile conditions. Some seamounts are as shallow as 200m and a few breach the surface, Lord Howe Island and Middleton and Elizabeth reefs among them. Australian trawlers are no longer active in the area but vessels from other countries are causing damage, Dr Przeslawski tells AAP, with sea beds taking years or even decades to recover. She says any marine sanctuaries devised under a high seas agreement would ideally be completely no-take. Many existing marine parks are only partially protected, with permitted sections to be fished or mined. "Is it going to be toothless?" Dr Przeslawski asks. "Or will it actually have some bite and the ability to affect some of these really ecologically damaging activities?" Between Australia and New Zealand sits a chain of underwater volcanoes that are home to an abundance of fish, ancient corals and other marine life. Known as Lord Howe Rise, the vast underwater landscape largely exists outside state maritime boundaries, beneath the high seas. That makes the ecologically-rich habitat fair game for industrial fishing, including long-lining and bottom-trawling techniques in the spotlight following the latest instalment from acclaimed nature documentarian David Attenborough. Footage in Ocean powerfully reveals to viewers for the first time, trawlers dragging heavy nets across the sea bed in an indiscriminate search for just a few prized species. As well as scooping up vast volumes of bycatch, such trawling has been found to churn up carbon that would have otherwise stayed locked in place on the sea floor, some of which ends up in the atmosphere to fuel climate change. The documentary lands ahead of a major United Nations ocean conference in France in June. Conservation groups are hopeful the film will help garner support for a landmark treaty to better protect the roughly two-thirds of marine habitat outside the boundaries of individual countries. The high seas biodiversity agreement would lay the foundations to safeguard 30 per cent of the world's oceans by 2030 in marine sanctuaries, helping preserve threatened species and support fish stocks for communities reliant on the food source. Australia was a founding signatory to the agreement in 2023 and the re-elected Albanese government has promised to ratify its commitment "as quickly as possible", according to thee Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. "Australia is one of a small number of countries that requires implementing legislation to be in place before the treaty can be ratified," a spokesperson says. A multi-agency government delegation still being finalised is set to attend to conference in France. To bring the treaty into force, 60 countries need to enshrine the treaty in national law via ratification. So far, about 40 have either done so or signalled that they will. WWF-Australia head of oceans and sustainable development Richard Leck is confident the treaty will come into force. "But it means countries like Australia, who have indicated they support the treaty, really need to step up to their parliamentary processes and make sure that that actually gets through their systems," he says. Greenpeace Australia Pacific senior oceans campaigner Georgia Whittaker says marine animals are being "pushed closer to the brink of extinction" every day that passes without stronger protections. Fresh analysis of fisheries data from the environmental campaigners reveals damage caused by industrial longline fishing - long stretches of baited hooks - to shark populations. Almost half a million near-threatened blue sharks were taken as bycatch in the the central and western Pacific in 2023, the highest number ever recorded and double 2015 numbers. Greenpeace has been angling for a marine sanctuary in the Lord Howe Rise and Tasman Sea region in anticipation of the oceans treaty going ahead. Marine scientist and Research Connect Blue director Rachel Przeslawski says there is still much to learn about the diverse underwater tracts off Australia's east coast. The mighty chain of seamounts - underwater mountains - experience an inverse relationship to biodiversity to that of their on-land cousins. Life is most abundant higher on the peaks, where there's more sunlight and nutrients, with visiting humpback whales and other migratory species among the creatures found in their midst. The deeper waters of the surrounding abyssal plains tend to host sparser populations of "weird critters" that have adapted to dark, nutrient-poor and hostile conditions. Some seamounts are as shallow as 200m and a few breach the surface, Lord Howe Island and Middleton and Elizabeth reefs among them. Australian trawlers are no longer active in the area but vessels from other countries are causing damage, Dr Przeslawski tells AAP, with sea beds taking years or even decades to recover. She says any marine sanctuaries devised under a high seas agreement would ideally be completely no-take. Many existing marine parks are only partially protected, with permitted sections to be fished or mined. "Is it going to be toothless?" Dr Przeslawski asks. "Or will it actually have some bite and the ability to affect some of these really ecologically damaging activities?" Between Australia and New Zealand sits a chain of underwater volcanoes that are home to an abundance of fish, ancient corals and other marine life. Known as Lord Howe Rise, the vast underwater landscape largely exists outside state maritime boundaries, beneath the high seas. That makes the ecologically-rich habitat fair game for industrial fishing, including long-lining and bottom-trawling techniques in the spotlight following the latest instalment from acclaimed nature documentarian David Attenborough. Footage in Ocean powerfully reveals to viewers for the first time, trawlers dragging heavy nets across the sea bed in an indiscriminate search for just a few prized species. As well as scooping up vast volumes of bycatch, such trawling has been found to churn up carbon that would have otherwise stayed locked in place on the sea floor, some of which ends up in the atmosphere to fuel climate change. The documentary lands ahead of a major United Nations ocean conference in France in June. Conservation groups are hopeful the film will help garner support for a landmark treaty to better protect the roughly two-thirds of marine habitat outside the boundaries of individual countries. The high seas biodiversity agreement would lay the foundations to safeguard 30 per cent of the world's oceans by 2030 in marine sanctuaries, helping preserve threatened species and support fish stocks for communities reliant on the food source. Australia was a founding signatory to the agreement in 2023 and the re-elected Albanese government has promised to ratify its commitment "as quickly as possible", according to thee Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. "Australia is one of a small number of countries that requires implementing legislation to be in place before the treaty can be ratified," a spokesperson says. A multi-agency government delegation still being finalised is set to attend to conference in France. To bring the treaty into force, 60 countries need to enshrine the treaty in national law via ratification. So far, about 40 have either done so or signalled that they will. WWF-Australia head of oceans and sustainable development Richard Leck is confident the treaty will come into force. "But it means countries like Australia, who have indicated they support the treaty, really need to step up to their parliamentary processes and make sure that that actually gets through their systems," he says. Greenpeace Australia Pacific senior oceans campaigner Georgia Whittaker says marine animals are being "pushed closer to the brink of extinction" every day that passes without stronger protections. Fresh analysis of fisheries data from the environmental campaigners reveals damage caused by industrial longline fishing - long stretches of baited hooks - to shark populations. Almost half a million near-threatened blue sharks were taken as bycatch in the the central and western Pacific in 2023, the highest number ever recorded and double 2015 numbers. Greenpeace has been angling for a marine sanctuary in the Lord Howe Rise and Tasman Sea region in anticipation of the oceans treaty going ahead. Marine scientist and Research Connect Blue director Rachel Przeslawski says there is still much to learn about the diverse underwater tracts off Australia's east coast. The mighty chain of seamounts - underwater mountains - experience an inverse relationship to biodiversity to that of their on-land cousins. Life is most abundant higher on the peaks, where there's more sunlight and nutrients, with visiting humpback whales and other migratory species among the creatures found in their midst. The deeper waters of the surrounding abyssal plains tend to host sparser populations of "weird critters" that have adapted to dark, nutrient-poor and hostile conditions. Some seamounts are as shallow as 200m and a few breach the surface, Lord Howe Island and Middleton and Elizabeth reefs among them. Australian trawlers are no longer active in the area but vessels from other countries are causing damage, Dr Przeslawski tells AAP, with sea beds taking years or even decades to recover. She says any marine sanctuaries devised under a high seas agreement would ideally be completely no-take. Many existing marine parks are only partially protected, with permitted sections to be fished or mined. "Is it going to be toothless?" Dr Przeslawski asks. "Or will it actually have some bite and the ability to affect some of these really ecologically damaging activities?"
Perth Now
3 days ago
- General
- Perth Now
High sea hopes for treaty to preserve vast underwater
Between Australia and New Zealand sits a chain of underwater volcanoes that are home to an abundance of fish, ancient corals and other marine life. Known as Lord Howe Rise, the vast underwater landscape largely exists outside state maritime boundaries, beneath the high seas. That makes the ecologically-rich habitat fair game for industrial fishing, including long-lining and bottom-trawling techniques in the spotlight following the latest instalment from acclaimed nature documentarian David Attenborough. Footage in Ocean powerfully reveals to viewers for the first time, trawlers dragging heavy nets across the sea bed in an indiscriminate search for just a few prized species. As well as scooping up vast volumes of bycatch, such trawling has been found to churn up carbon that would have otherwise stayed locked in place on the sea floor, some of which ends up in the atmosphere to fuel climate change. The documentary lands ahead of a major United Nations ocean conference in France in June. Conservation groups are hopeful the film will help garner support for a landmark treaty to better protect the roughly two-thirds of marine habitat outside the boundaries of individual countries. The high seas biodiversity agreement would lay the foundations to safeguard 30 per cent of the world's oceans by 2030 in marine sanctuaries, helping preserve threatened species and support fish stocks for communities reliant on the food source. Australia was a founding signatory to the agreement in 2023 and the re-elected Albanese government has promised to ratify its commitment "as quickly as possible", according to thee Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. "Australia is one of a small number of countries that requires implementing legislation to be in place before the treaty can be ratified," a spokesperson says. A multi-agency government delegation still being finalised is set to attend to conference in France. To bring the treaty into force, 60 countries need to enshrine the treaty in national law via ratification. So far, about 40 have either done so or signalled that they will. WWF-Australia head of oceans and sustainable development Richard Leck is confident the treaty will come into force. "But it means countries like Australia, who have indicated they support the treaty, really need to step up to their parliamentary processes and make sure that that actually gets through their systems," he says. Greenpeace Australia Pacific senior oceans campaigner Georgia Whittaker says marine animals are being "pushed closer to the brink of extinction" every day that passes without stronger protections. Fresh analysis of fisheries data from the environmental campaigners reveals damage caused by industrial longline fishing - long stretches of baited hooks - to shark populations. Almost half a million near-threatened blue sharks were taken as bycatch in the the central and western Pacific in 2023, the highest number ever recorded and double 2015 numbers. Greenpeace has been angling for a marine sanctuary in the Lord Howe Rise and Tasman Sea region in anticipation of the oceans treaty going ahead. Marine scientist and Research Connect Blue director Rachel Przeslawski says there is still much to learn about the diverse underwater tracts off Australia's east coast. The mighty chain of seamounts - underwater mountains - experience an inverse relationship to biodiversity to that of their on-land cousins. Life is most abundant higher on the peaks, where there's more sunlight and nutrients, with visiting humpback whales and other migratory species among the creatures found in their midst. The deeper waters of the surrounding abyssal plains tend to host sparser populations of "weird critters" that have adapted to dark, nutrient-poor and hostile conditions. Some seamounts are as shallow as 200m and a few breach the surface, Lord Howe Island and Middleton and Elizabeth reefs among them. Australian trawlers are no longer active in the area but vessels from other countries are causing damage, Dr Przeslawski tells AAP, with sea beds taking years or even decades to recover. She says any marine sanctuaries devised under a high seas agreement would ideally be completely no-take. Many existing marine parks are only partially protected, with permitted sections to be fished or mined. "Is it going to be toothless?" Dr Przeslawski asks. "Or will it actually have some bite and the ability to affect some of these really ecologically damaging activities?"
West Australian
3 days ago
- General
- West Australian
High sea hopes for treaty to preserve vast underwater
Between Australia and New Zealand sits a chain of underwater volcanoes that are home to an abundance of fish, ancient corals and other marine life. Known as Lord Howe Rise, the vast underwater landscape largely exists outside state maritime boundaries, beneath the high seas. That makes the ecologically-rich habitat fair game for industrial fishing, including long-lining and bottom-trawling techniques in the spotlight following the latest instalment from acclaimed nature documentarian David Attenborough. Footage in Ocean powerfully reveals to viewers for the first time, trawlers dragging heavy nets across the sea bed in an indiscriminate search for just a few prized species. As well as scooping up vast volumes of bycatch, such trawling has been found to churn up carbon that would have otherwise stayed locked in place on the sea floor, some of which ends up in the atmosphere to fuel climate change. The documentary lands ahead of a major United Nations ocean conference in France in June. Conservation groups are hopeful the film will help garner support for a landmark treaty to better protect the roughly two-thirds of marine habitat outside the boundaries of individual countries. The high seas biodiversity agreement would lay the foundations to safeguard 30 per cent of the world's oceans by 2030 in marine sanctuaries, helping preserve threatened species and support fish stocks for communities reliant on the food source. Australia was a founding signatory to the agreement in 2023 and the re-elected Albanese government has promised to ratify its commitment "as quickly as possible", according to thee Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. "Australia is one of a small number of countries that requires implementing legislation to be in place before the treaty can be ratified," a spokesperson says. A multi-agency government delegation still being finalised is set to attend to conference in France. To bring the treaty into force, 60 countries need to enshrine the treaty in national law via ratification. So far, about 40 have either done so or signalled that they will. WWF-Australia head of oceans and sustainable development Richard Leck is confident the treaty will come into force. "But it means countries like Australia, who have indicated they support the treaty, really need to step up to their parliamentary processes and make sure that that actually gets through their systems," he says. Greenpeace Australia Pacific senior oceans campaigner Georgia Whittaker says marine animals are being "pushed closer to the brink of extinction" every day that passes without stronger protections. Fresh analysis of fisheries data from the environmental campaigners reveals damage caused by industrial longline fishing - long stretches of baited hooks - to shark populations. Almost half a million near-threatened blue sharks were taken as bycatch in the the central and western Pacific in 2023, the highest number ever recorded and double 2015 numbers. Greenpeace has been angling for a marine sanctuary in the Lord Howe Rise and Tasman Sea region in anticipation of the oceans treaty going ahead. Marine scientist and Research Connect Blue director Rachel Przeslawski says there is still much to learn about the diverse underwater tracts off Australia's east coast. The mighty chain of seamounts - underwater mountains - experience an inverse relationship to biodiversity to that of their on-land cousins. Life is most abundant higher on the peaks, where there's more sunlight and nutrients, with visiting humpback whales and other migratory species among the creatures found in their midst. The deeper waters of the surrounding abyssal plains tend to host sparser populations of "weird critters" that have adapted to dark, nutrient-poor and hostile conditions. Some seamounts are as shallow as 200m and a few breach the surface, Lord Howe Island and Middleton and Elizabeth reefs among them. Australian trawlers are no longer active in the area but vessels from other countries are causing damage, Dr Przeslawski tells AAP, with sea beds taking years or even decades to recover. She says any marine sanctuaries devised under a high seas agreement would ideally be completely no-take. Many existing marine parks are only partially protected, with permitted sections to be fished or mined. "Is it going to be toothless?" Dr Przeslawski asks. "Or will it actually have some bite and the ability to affect some of these really ecologically damaging activities?"
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Island inhabited by penguins was hit by tariffs. You can support them by buying pebbles.
Reading the news as President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs on countries and territories worldwide, Janelle Mais had an idea. Trump announced tariffs on April 2, or as he coined it, "Liberation Day," in an attempt to erase trade deficits between the U.S. and other countries. Naming 180 countries and regions, he included some regions and islands that are predominately uninhabited or have little to no exports. One of these islands, Heard Island, is inhabited entirely by seals and penguins and hasn't been visited by humans in over a decade. Mais reached out to some of her friends, including Milla Novak, about "helping" the penguins on Heard Island make their entry into international trade. Mais, Novak and another friend worked quickly to launch Heard Island Pebbles about 24 hours after Trump's announcement in early April. The goal: sell physical and digital pebbles to raise money to protect the Heard Island penguins and support conservation efforts for the region. "A lot of negative stories are coming out in the news, obviously," Novak said. "(The tariffs) are affecting a lot of businesses. Our website is tongue-in-cheek. We are still driving the point that all the donations are going to out of the charity. Sometimes having tongue-in-cheek, yes, it gets the word out there, because people are perhaps fatigued by the news of the tariffs." Heard and McDonald Islands, which were included in the tariff announcements, together form an uninhabited Australian territory. They sit nearly 2,500 miles southwest of Australia and are accessible only via a seven-day boat trip from Perth. Penguins present stones as tokens of affection or as part of their mating rituals, inspiring the trio to choose these symbolic items as the 'exports' from the penguin-dominated island. Customers can buy a digital pebble online for $10 or a physical one, which does not actually come from Heard Island, for a donation between $50 and $200. According to Mais, they've sold both digital and physical pebbles in 45 out of 50 states in the U.S., including 10 in Texas from major metros like Austin, Houston, Dallas and El Paso. They've sold about 95 physical pebbles and over 300 digital ones, which can be decorated virtually. "It's affecting the world, but I think it's really struck a chord with Americans," Mais said. "And when they make orders, we get a lot of notes saying, 'Sorry about our government. We love you.'" The group is aiming to raise over $20,000 to support WWF-Australia, which is not affiliated with the site. They've nearly raised $15,000 since its launch earlier this month. Mais said in a time of turmoil and international trade wars, they wanted to make light of a tough situation. "You don't want to rub salt in the wound when everyone's feeling so frustrated," Mais said. "You can make a change by being positive and light-hearted. Everyone knows it's a weird, bad situation. But even in the comments, people appreciate the liberty that the pebbles bring." This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texans are buying pebbles to support uninhabited island hit by tariffs
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Sad discovery on outback road sparks warning to Aussies over deadly act
Conservationists are repeating their pleas to the public to be mindful of their wastage and to never discard rubbish while out in nature, after sad footage emerged of a native lizard with its head stuck in a Fanta can in the bush. The video, captured in Queensland and posted online this week, shows a lizard with its head firmly stuck inside the can, ironically right beside a huge billboard that warns against littering. A local man was passing by and came to the little animal's aid, freeing the lizard in just under a minute using pliers. "That's why we don't litter, guys," the man said, adding in the video caption that the lizard eventually escaped harm-free. Responding to the upsetting incident, Malene Hand, WWF-Australia's No Plastics in Nature Policy Manager, said the impact pollution continues to have on our animals is both horrifying and heartbreaking, and serves as yet another reminder that our careless actions can have devastating consequences for native animals. "The impact of littering on our Australian wildlife is shocking," she told Yahoo News. While in this instance the lizard was trapped inside a can, Malene said one of the most problematic types of litter in the natural environment is plastic, "which has been found everywhere in Australia, even in our most remote coastal areas". "Littered plastic kills Australian wildlife," she said. "Sea turtles eat plastic bags they have mistaken for jellyfish, while whales, dolphins and sea birds are dying with stomachs full of plastic. Just recently, scientists found that young Australian seabirds are suffering from organ failure and brain damage from eating plastic bottle caps, clothes pegs, balloon clips, and smaller plastics. Incredible 730kg haul pulled from waterway exposes national crisis Aussie's sad discovery in bush sparks urgent warning Sad find in river highlights 'urgent' Aussie problem "We are also seeing as many as two-thirds of hermit crabs using artificial shells made from plastic, mostly bottle lids, instead of snail shells." Australians consume a lot of single-use plastic — the second-highest in the world — with up to 145,000 tonnes of single-use plastic leaking into Australia's environment every year, Malene added. "Fortunately, there is a lot we can do to stop this from happening," she said. "We can replace single-use plastics with reusable options. Switching from single-use items like plastic water bottles, coffee cups and plastic bags to reusable items can have a big impact. We know that reducing our reliance on single-use plastics will reduce the amount of litter in our environment and, critically, the devastating impacts on Australian wildlife." Across the nation, the impact of pollution on wildlife has become increasingly visible, with more frequent reports of animals becoming entangled in, or ingesting human rubbish. Native species, such as birds, reptiles, and marine life, are particularly vulnerable to litter and chemical runoff. As population growth and consumer demand continue to rise, experts warn that Australia must move faster to adopt circular economy principles and strengthen environmental protections to prevent irreversible damage. Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? 🐊🦘😳 Get our new newsletter showcasing the week's best stories.
