Tommy the Turtle
About me
I am a harmless Green Turtle that lives in Sydney. I am an Endangered species and all of my cousins are vulnerable to extinction too, with the Hawksbill Turtle critically endangered.
​
We love eating jellyfish so you probably want us around since I hear that humans get stung by jellyfish. If you have ever seen a plastic bag floating in the water you can probably understand why I get confused and think its another jellyfish dinner. This means I often eat plastic - so please make sure to pick up any plastic bags you see floating in the ocean and wash your hands to help keep us both safe.
Norman the Greynurse is one of my friends and I love living in Sydney.
Why the shark nets are dangerous for us
Unfortunately, we get caught in the nets often. 9 of my turtle friends have been caught in the Bondi, Coogee, Bronte and Maroubra nets over the last decade and only 2 survived. In total 121 of us have been caught in the nets across NSW and most died.
In February 2021 my cousin, the Olive Ridley Turtle died in the Bronte net.
We can only hold our breath for a few hours most of us have died and are not very flexible so its difficult to get out of the nets once we get caught in them. We would love the lethal nets to be removed!