The death of a rare leatherback turtle is being investigated after it was found washed ashore on a beach north of Sydney at the weekend.
The animal, which is the largest sea turtle in the world and an endangered species, was found at Whale Beach on Sunday.
Staff from the Australian Registry of Wildlife Health at Taronga Zoo are undertaking a necropsy of the animal to determine how it died.
It follows the deaths of six leatherbacks off the Central Coast around a similar time last year.
A leatherback turtle was also released from a shark net and microchipped by the Department of Primary Industries off Killcare Beach on the Central Coast on Friday.
National Parks and Wildlife Service spokesperson said the turtle was not believed to be the same one that was found caught in the shark net last week.
"An initial scan has found no microchip," the spokesperson said.
Whale Beach is one of the most northern beaches in Northern Sydney and is located across the Hawkesbury River channel from where the turtle was found in a shark net on Friday.
The spokesperson said results from the necropsy of the dead turtle may take weeks to finalise due to the advanced decomposition of the carcass.
The Australian Museum is also working to recover the "incredibly valuable" skeleton from the specimen for its collection.
Leatherback turtle numbers have dramatically declined in the past century as a result of fisheries bycatch and intense egg collection.
It is estimated there are as few as 2,300 adult females remaining in the wild within the Pacific population.
Shark net concerns raised
The recent incidents have prompted wildlife experts to call for shark nets to be removed from Central Coast beaches.
A government report last year revealed 11 leatherback turtles were caught in shark nets off the Central Coast between 2021 and 2022.
It found that out of the 16 endangered turtles caught across the state during that time, five were dead.
National Parks and Wildlife Service said six leatherbacks washed up dead on Central Coast beaches last year and while it is unknown whether those turtles were caught in shark nets, some necropsies found evidence of entanglement.
Marine Wildlife Rescue Central Coast founder Cathy Gilmore said she believed shark nets did more harm than good.
"A shark net is as useless as a volleyball net out in your front yard trying to stop a magpie from swooping in magpie season during spring," she said.
There are 14 shark nets located across beaches on the Central Coast.
Central Coast Council said it would consider trialling the removal of shark nets once smart drumlines were installed at every patrolled beach.
Killcare, Umina and Lakes Beach are the last patrolled beaches yet to have smart drumlines installed.
The State Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast, Adam Crouch, said he was committed to having shark nets removed from local beaches.
"I've been lobbying minister Dugald Saunders to have DPI look at providing those additional three smart drumlines," he said.
He said the next step was for the council to apply for an expression of interest to trial the removal.
