The effects of Queensland’s plastic bag ban on endangered sea creatures will be closely monitored by scientists from the University of the Sunshine Coast.

The ban, effective from July 1, is hoped to reduce the impact on sea life by single-use plastics, with sea turtles and sea birds some of the worst affected.

It's believed turtles are attracted to plastic bags because of their likeness to jellyfish. Credit:AAP

USC animal ecology lecturer Dr Kathy Townsend has spent ten years studying sea turtles, and said 30 per cent of dead turtles she had studied in Moreton Bay recently were full of plastic.

“That’s staggering, that’s almost a third,” she said.