Just had these images sent to me by Jan Ashley, a student from Liverpool in England. She was recently on a tour of Queensland and visited the magical Whitsundays where she swam with turtles and then visited Fraser Island (the biggest sand castle in the world!!!) and found this small Green Turtle washed up on the beach.
Without a full investigation, it looks like this one suffered from Floating issues. This is where they eat contaminated food and they bloat. Then they can’t dive which can lead to starvation.
This has been quite common since the floods earlier this year throughout Queensland where the pesticides and contaminants have washed out into the feeding grounds of our turtles and dugongs.
So the best thing you can do to help these guys is to be extremely picky in what you wash down your drains. Use environmentally friendly chemicals for cleaning and that alone will increase water quality and prevent further losses of life.
It is the simple things you do daily that count the most. If it is convenient, it is probably not good for our environment.