Every week, thousands of four-wheel drives take to the beaches across Australia. But a global study led by a Queensland researcher has found this popular pastime is coming at a heavy cost to the environment. So much so there are now calls for cars to be banned from the sand altogether.
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00:00This is peak hour, Bribie Island style. Car after car cramming onto a slim stretch of sand.
00:09It's chaos, it's the wild west up there at times. There can be 1200 vehicles on the beach in one day and that's ridiculous. It's just like a police car park.
00:18Darren Jew is one of dozens of volunteers who care for endangered loggerhead turtle nests on the island.
00:24They've seen nests run over and hatchlings dead from dehydration after becoming stuck in tyre tracks.
00:31Instead of heading to the ocean, a maybe 50 metre journey, they end up heading north or south 500 metres in a rut.
00:39Professor Thomas Schlacker says four wheel drive tracks are also limiting vegetation growth, affecting a beaches ability to recover after severe weather like Cyclone Alfred.
00:50His research has examined hundreds of coastal species across 20 studies globally and found all suffered negative effects from vehicles.
00:58It only takes off from only one vehicle to cause very, very severe impacts.
01:05While the findings are alarming, Professor Schlacker says beaches can be repaired, but only if concentrated efforts are taken on a large scale and fast.
01:16The only thing which works is to get the cars of precise proportions off a beach.
01:22I think there's enough rules, banning is not the answer, more education.
01:28The Bundaberg Four Wheel Drive Club has found a middle ground with conservationists and their local council.
01:34Instead of a full ban, having just a night time ban to help protect the turtles.
01:41But that doesn't go far enough for some, with beach driving's popularity showing no signs of slowing down.
01:48It's just going to get worse and worse and worse.
01:51Is this really the legacy we want to pass on to the next generation?
01:56Jessica Ross, ABC News, Bribie Island.