Since June, National Parks reports over 60 turtles have been found unwell or deceased in waters around Port Stephens. Oyster farmers say the number is more like 80.
Residents and visitors are asked to report any sightings of sick or dead green turtles as part of an investigation into the health of this threatened species.
If you come across a sick or dead turtle, please report it immediately to NPWS on 13000PARKS (1300 072 757). Our residents report that this number can be hard to reach and Irukandji and Sea Shelter at team@seashelter.org or phone (02) 4982 2476 is more responsive.
If you see a live, healthy turtle you can also log it on the NSW Marine Fauna sightings page a https://bit.ly/NSWMarineFauna – it only takes a minute and can help authorities understand the number of healthy turtles in the area.
Most of the deaths occurred when water quality was low due to a lot of rain from May to August. However, at the same time, there was also a failure at a sewerage treatment plant with discharge into Port Stephens. Oyster harvesting was closed for most of August.
Currently Tilligerry Creek is closed for oyster harvesting due to an algal bloom and Tea Gardens is closed due to sewage contamination. The oyster farmers are still struggling. Water quality is impacted by periods of heavy rain and QX disease is still around. The Government has now put some water monitoring buoys around the Port to study the variation in the water quality and the oyster farmers carry out regular testing in harvest areas to ensure the water quality remains suitable for harvesting oysters.
Mostly we have great water quality in this area. However, I will repeat my warning. If the water is brown, don’t swim and perhaps even think about whether or not you want to eat fish and other seafood caught in these waters during these periods. Something killed those turtles and it was probably related to water quality. Thankfully, the event seems to have been limited to winter and the Port waters are lovely and blue again.
