From grey nurse sharks in Moreton Bay and birds of prey on K’gari to manta rays off Cairns and sawfish in Cape York – the University of the Sunshine Coast has gained new funding for research and citizen science projects to help protect some of the state’s most iconic and threatened species.

It is one of most pristine and protected places in the world, but new research has revealed the alarming extent of plastic pollution in the Galápagos archipelago and the harm it poses to the rare and endangered animals who live there.