Giving Compass' Take:

• Hundreds of sea turtles washed up dead in 2012 and it puzzled researchers and scientists. Recent tests have been conducted and the turtles were found to have metals such as cobalt in their blood which is high levels is lethally toxic. 

• What effects are these chemicals having on other wildlife in these waterways? How can funders donate to research projects that want to test our water and prevent mass deaths of our marine animals?

• Learn about saving our oceans from pollution and other disasters. 

Conservationists want major bays and estuaries along the Great Barrier Reef tested for contaminants after a five-year study found “alarming” levels of some chemicals in unhealthy turtles on the reef.

Scientists working on the research have also recommended expanded monitoring of turtle-population health on the Great Barrier Reef “as an indicator of the health of the reef itself”.

The research was launched after a mass stranding of green turtles in 2012, when more than 100 green turtles washed up dead or dying in Upstart Bay, south of Townsville.

In one of the largest turtle research projects to date, scientists screenedwater, sediment, food, and the blood and shells of turtles for a wide range of elements.

Read the full article on the safety of Great Barrier Reef turtles by Lisa Cox at The Guardian.