Sea Turtles Are Dying In Large Numbers Because They Eat Plastic, Mistaking It For Food

All over the world, sea turtles are eating plastic because they mistake trash for food. The inevitable result is the turtles often die because of this practice.

There are plenty of theories explaining the reason behind this phenomenon. Some believe that the reason is the look of plastic bags, turtles mistakenly consume them think that they are jelly fish.

Another theory with scientific proof is that sea turtles eat plastic because it smells just like food. According to Kenneth J. Lohmann, an UNC-Chapel Hill biologist, it is common to see loggerhead turtles with a partly or fully-blocked digestive system because the animals have eaten plastic.

The scientists behind this finding studied 15 turtles which have been captured for 15 months and deliver different scents to them through a pipe. The turtle paid no attention to the small of clean plastic but they are attracted to that of food and plastic soaked in the ocean.

The scientists were taken aback that the turtles show the same kind of interest in the plastic that has plants, algae, and small animals on the surface as they do real food.

This finding raises concern over similar behavior that whales, fish, and seabirds might display.

It is estimated that half of the turtles and all of the birds all over the world have consumed plastic. Another more alarming figure is the eight tons of plastic humans dump to the oceans each year.

Research proves that a sea turtle could die by ingesting around a dozen pieces of plastic. The young are more vulnerable because they usually swim in currents where trash build up.

Once plastic make its way inside a turtle, it will be stuck there and limit the animal’s ability to absorb real food.

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