At least 32 turtles, some with bleeding eyes, have been found washed up on shores across New South Wales in Australia, prompting conservationists to launch an urgent investigation.
New South Wales’s National Parks and Wildlife Services (NPWS) said they were investigating the deaths, all of which occurred across the Port Stephens Council area in recent weeks.
Marine rescue group Sea Shelter said it had recorded 25 green turtle deaths at Port Stephens in the past month, including seven in the past week alone. Green turtles are listed as vulnerable under Australian conservation law.
The animals have been found at several popular swimming spots, including Shoal Bay, Nelson Bay and Corlette.
While the deaths appear to be concentrated around tourist beaches, wildlife experts suggested that may simply reflect the higher likelihood of sightings in well-populated areas.
Multiple agencies, including NPWS, the Department of Primary Industries and the Taronga Zoo’s Australian Registry of Wildlife Health, are involved in the investigation.
“Samples are being collected for testing and investigations on the cause are underway,” NSW’s National Parks and Wildlife Services said in a statement, adding that the autopsy data would be available in a number of weeks.
The agency has urged people to report sick or injured sea turtles to the NPWS or to Irukandji Shark and Ray Encounters.
“It’s definitely very, very worrying,” Lia Pereira, co-founder of Sea Shelter, told ABC news.
“In my personal history of working with turtles, I have never seen this in Port Stephens.”
Ryan Pereira, another founder of Sea Shelter in Anna Bay, said they witnessed an increase in the number of sick or dead turtles after recent flooding in the area.
He said there were “too many possibilities at the moment” to confirm the cause of the turtles’ deaths.
Conservationists said bleeding around the eyes was an unusual symptom.
The Taronga Zoo registry said: "A thorough, multifaceted investigation is underway and it may take some weeks to determine the factors contributing to the event."
It said they have taken two samples from two dead turtles and are also running diagnostic testing on samples from another 15 turtles from Port Stephens.
Earlier this year, more than 400 endangered sea turtles were found washed ashore on India's east coast in an event not witnessed in over two decades. The Olive Ridley turtles, which travel thousands of miles searching for ideal nesting conditions, likely died due to large fishing nets that trawl the ocean floor, experts said.
