Sea turtles and plastic
Plastic bags look very similar to jellyfish, fishing nets often look like tasty seaweed.
Sea turtles in danger
Human activities have tipped the scales against the survival of these ancient mariners. Nearly all species of sea turtle are classified as Endangered, and plastic is doing more than its share of damage.
Ingesting plastics isn’t a harmless mistake
The consumption of this man-made material can cost sea turtles their lives. That’s because plastic can cause blockages in their intestines and even pierce the intestinal wall causing internal bleeding.
It doesn’t end well
Perhaps the most distressing fate of all is when the plastic in the turtle’s stomach imitates the sensation of being full. Turtles then neglect to seek out other food sources and ultimately die from starvation.
Tangled and left alone
Sadly, it’s not only the consumption of plastic that poses a threat to these marine reptiles, when turtles get entangled in plastic debris they risk choking to death, losing limbs and generally injuring themselves sometimes beyond repair.
Researchers are proving the facts
“Even a single piece of plastic can kill a turtle,” explains University of the Sunshine Coast marine biologist Dr Kathy Townsend.
“Two of the turtles we studied had eaten only one piece of plastic, which was enough to kill them. In one case, the gut was punctured and in the other the soft plastic clogged the gut.”
Migrating turtles
Of the world's seven marine turtle species, five have been recorded in UK waters. They are the leatherback, loggerhead, Kemp's ridley, green and hawksbill turtles