A Reef Authority short film about a green turtle and the Torres Strait communities working to protect the species has been named a finalist at the world's largest sustainability film festival.
Selected for London's 2026 Big Syn International Film Festival, the film follows Meriam Nation Traditional Owners and researchers investigating threats to the northern Great Barrier Reef's green turtles.
Launched in 2019, the festival has grown to reach more than 50 million people in more than 120 countries.
For millennia, turtles have been woven into the Meriam Nation's identity, island custom, totems and stewardship of Sea Country.
- "This is a warning of what is to come," Erub (Darnley Island) Elder and turtle researcher Uncle Kapua Gutchen said.
Research has found more than 99 per cent of sampled juveniles from the northern population were female. Warming sands at nesting sites including Raine
Island, the world's largest green turtle rookery, produce more female hatchlings, threatening future breeding.
Filmmaker Braden Smith said the international recognition was an opportunity to amplify an urgent message.
- "It's humbling to help share the Meriam Nation's story and voices with the world," Mr Smith said.
"This is one of Australia's most remote places, with extraordinary island and coral reef landscapes and a profound connection between people, turtles and Sea Country.
"The data warns these ancient mariners of the sea could be hurtling towards a population cliff under a changing climate."
The Reef Authority's Dr Mark Read said the film showcased a vital partnership.
- "The film brings Traditional Owners' knowledge, leadership and concern for green turtles to a global audience," Dr Read said.
"Together, we're studying turtle numbers, tracking breeding males and testing ways to cool nesting sands to guide protection of this population for future generations."
The Great Barrier Reef Green Turtle Research Program is funded by the Australian Government's Reef Trust and delivered by the Reef Authority and Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, working with Meriam Nation and Kuuku Ya'u Traditional Owners.
