Plastic waste killing endangered sea turtles
Plastic waste killing endangered sea turtles
By Sophie Lowery
Reporter
Wednesday 15 Oct 2014 6:30 p.m.
Auckland Zoo and Kelly Tarlton's are treating three endangered sea turtles that were rescued off the coast of Northland.
It's thought one of the turtles got into trouble after swallowing plastic.
The hawksbill turtle is coated in barnacles and algae and is on its last legs.
"By the time we see them they have multiple problems," says Auckland Zoo senior vet James Chatterton. "They've swallowed the plastic and they've got septicaemia, low blood sugar, low body condition and they're dehydrated."
Sea turtles are prone to mistaking plastic bags for jellyfish – one of their favourite foods.
"One they've ingested this plastic it will then lodge in their intestines. That will cause a blockage and then they'll slowly get weaker and weaker," says Dr Chatterton.
More:
http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/plastic-waste-killing-endangered-sea-turtles-2014101518
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Did You Know?
Plastic bags are petroleum-based and do not biodegrade.
Sea turtles and other marine creatures mistake plastics and other garbage as food (such as jellyfish) and ingest it. This mistake causes blockages within their digestive system and eventual death.
According to the US EPA, Americans use more than 380 billion plastic bags and wraps each year. It takes 12 million barrels of oil to produce this many bags. Worldwide, as many as one trillion plastic bags are used each year. This equates to 100 million barrels of oil!
Plastic toxins end up in fish, which end up on our plates, which end up inside our bodies.
In 2007, San Francisco was the first city in the United States to ban petroleum-based plastic bags in large markets and pharmacies.
Less than 5% of plastics are recycled worldwide!
