Biocide! Abandoned fishing nets trapping the ocean's turtles, seals, sharks and birds

Experts say up to 14,000 turtles could have died at the Gulf of Carpentaria, northern Australia in the last nine years

These appalling photos reveal the largely unknown damage that abandoned fishing gear dubbed 'ghost nets' in a new campaign is doing to animals in the ocean surrounding Australia.

Turtles are the main victims that get trapped in abandoned nets in the Gulf of Carpentaria in northern Australia and experts estimate there could have been 14,000 that have died over the last nine years, large numbers of seals are also getting caught up in the nets across the country's waters.

World Animal Protection has launched the Sea Change campaign with the aim to make fishermen, fisheries and the general public more aware of this problem and they want to save one million animals by 2018.

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A global campaign has started to raise awareness about abandoned fishing gear in the oceans which kill animals

Large numbers of seals are also getting caught in abandoned nets across Australian waters

World Animal Protection says it wants to save one million animals by 2018 with the global campaign it has launched

Nicola Beynon, campaigns manager for the Australian branch of World Animal Protection, told Australia said that due to sea currents some of the largest numbers of ghost nets wash up at the Gulf of Carpentaria in northern Australia.

She said: 'Fishermen lose their nets for a number of reasons and it might not be deliberate but rough seas can mean the nets get damaged and the fisherman has trouble and may think 'I might as well cut it free'.

'These abandoned nets are death traps for sea animals. Ms Beynon said scientists estimate globally 136,000 seals, sea lions and whales have died due to the ghost nets after getting entangled in them.

She said: 'This is a huge problem and it's not just sea turtles which are the main victims, these nets are also killing stingrays, sharks and sea birds. 'They endure awful suffering and there are high fatalities.

A large aquatic reptile is tragically shown caught up in one of the ghost nets washed up on a beach

'People just don't know about it and that is why we have started this campaign.'

The Gulf of Carpentaria sees the highest number of ghost nets wash up than any other place in Oceania, according to Ms Beynon.

She said: 'This is because of the intense fishing in Indonesia because of the currents in the Tirmor and Arafura Seas.

'Reports we have done show that 500 turtles have been recorded dead on the coastline, this is just the tip of the iceberg, the estimates by scientists are much larger.'

One of the initiatives of the campaign in the Philippines has seen fishermen take old nets to shore and get paid to do it, World Animal Protection is hoping to roll this out further.

Ms Beynon said that at a recent meeting in Slovenia stakeholders from all over the world including the UK, US and Indonesia came together to start raising awareness and she is planning a meeting in Australia for next year.

She said: 'It was a platform to get people talking.,

Slovenian company Aquafill, which co-sponsored the recent meeting, recycle the nets and turn them into swimming costumes and carpet tiles.