This research project is a work in progress by Sharelle, Gemma and Candice to investigate the key question:   How does human pollution affect marine life in the North Stradbroke Island region, and how can we improve local awareness to support the marine life?


The number of tourists participating in whale-watching has grown to over 1.6 million people per year (Australia Government, 2010).

With more tourists in the North Stradbroke Island area, we wanted to investigate the level of pollution and research how this impacts marine life, especially during a peak traffic time.

We visited the area and recorded the number of bins, and recycling bins and the distance between bins.

We documented signs in the area promoting responsible waste disposal and took samples of water from various locations around the coast line.

Rubbish was photographed and those that could be, collected.