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Turtle found that pooped plastic for a month

Disturbing story is one of many issues being discussed this week at the Fifth International Marine Debris Conference in Honolulu, Hawaii.

By Bryan NelsonThu, Mar 24 2011 at 1:00 AM EST
 18

Turtle eating plastic TURTLE FOOD: Sea turtles often mistake plastic bags for jellyfish, a favorite food item. (Photo: motleypixel/Flickr)
As the world's experts on plastic pollution gather this week in Honolulu for the Fifth International Marine Debris Conference, a disturbing new report has been released that chronicles what decades of plastic pollution in our oceans has done to sea turtles. 
 
One of the more troubling stories from the report, which was issued by Seaturtle.org's Marine Turtle Newsletter (pdf), highlights an instance of a green sea turtle that had swallowed so much marine pollution that it pooped plastic for a month.
 
The turtle was rescued in 2009 after marine biologists in Melbourne Beach, Fla., noticed that it seemed to be having problems digesting food. After dislodging a large piece of plastic from the animal's gastrointestinal tract, the turtle proceeded to defecate 74 foreign objects over the next month. Some of those objects included four types of latex balloons, five different types of string, nine different types of soft plastic, four different types of hard plastic, a piece of carpet-like material, and two large tar balls.
 
Though this turtle was rescued, it is representative of a growing problem for sea turtles around the world, creatures that easily mistake plastics for food items like jellyfish. According to the report, about half of all surveyed sea turtles have ingested plastic. 
 
As single-use plastics increase in use (and get mindlessly discarded at a comparable rate), they gather in the eddying currents of the world's oceans. According to the report, well over 1 billion single-use plastic bags are given out for free every day. Though the report estimates that only about 0.2-0.3 percent of plastic production eventually ends up in the ocean, it accumulates at an alarming rate. In the 1960s, less than 1 percent of our waste was plastic, but today it makes up to 80 percent of all waste that accumulates on land, shorelines, the ocean surface or seabed.
 
"Last year I counted 76 plastic bags in the ocean in just one minute while standing in the bow of our sea turtle research boat at sea in Indonesia," said Dr. Wallace J. Nichols, coauthor of the report. "The science is becoming crystal clear: sea turtles and plastic pollution don't mix well. Sea turtles have spent the past 100 million years roaming seas free of plastic pollution, and are now sadly the poster animal for impacts of our throw-away society on endangered species."
 
Of course, sea turtles aren't the only marine animals imperiled by plastic. Plastic debris ensnares marine mammals like seals, and plastics are commonly discovered in the stomachs of whales, dolphins and fish. Micro-plastics have also been found to be accumulating in mollusks and crustaceans.
 
In an effort to work on solutions to these problems, the Fifth International Marine Debris Conference, meeting this week through March 25, is bringing together marine debris researchers from around the world. The conference hopes to heighten global understanding and appreciation of the threats posed by marine debris, highlight recent advances in marine debris research, and provide an opportunity for the development of collaborative solutions to these problems.
 
But as the conference's mission statement points out, the solutions won't come easy unless individuals around the world make basic behavioral changes to prevent plastic use. You can access advice and follow the conference events at the group's website at 5imdc.org.
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Related Topics: Animals, Conservation, Marine Life, Plastics, Waste, Water Pollution

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anonymous
BiggerThanMe 06/03/2011 09:02 AM

Can't wait for humans to go extinct - stop freakin' breeding already (i have). Bring on the bird flu......

anonymous
Brendan 05/06/2011 08:30 AM

With half the world's turtles doing this... We should see artificial selection taking effect soon if it's injuring/killing them.

anonymous
Guest 04/22/2011 23:25 PM

I bet all these people that feel so sorry for the poor turtles will just head over to Wal-mart in their big SUVs and buy some plastic cups, bagged in plastic bags, and throw them away after they use them because its too inconvenient to wash dishes. Complain and move on, just like everyone else.

anonymous
Guest 04/22/2011 23:25 PM

How about instead of standing on the bow of a ship, counting plastic bags, you actually DO SOMETHING about it and pull them out of the water?

anonymous
reuseit9 04/07/2011 23:22 PM

you people are so stupid! first of all, you throw trash around and expect the turtles to pick it up? they don't have a voice to stand for so just do your damn job and help the environment. Sooner or later, you'll be paying the price. Karma always gets the person who acts like a douche.

anonymous
green teen 04/05/2011 12:08 PM

Why is everything today made from disposable plastic? food containers, plastic wrap, plastic forks, straws, etc. Cant we just reuse things? Just wondering.

anonymous
Guest 06/03/2011 09:35 AM

The title of this article is grammatically incorrect.

anonymous
Eltha 03/26/2011 02:04 AM

poor baby... this world needs a BIG CHANGE...

anonymous
Willerundi Today 01:02 AM

I worked in Melbourne Beach Florida, with sea turtles, and they do not all eat plastic... Some do, however... mind your trash, because it all goes somewhere, and these little guys can't figure out that it's not good to eat it...

anonymous
Paul Shapazznaplom 03/24/2011 21:46 PM

5th International Marine Debris Conference? Sorry kids. Stupid, unnecessary gatherings like this are dinosaurs. No one and I mean NO ONE has an appetite or wallet to fund crap like this. Ba-Bye.

anonymous
udoobu Today 13:06 PM

It's gatherings like this one that will help ensure that we have habitable oceans in the future. If that doesn't mean anything to you then I hope your time on the planet is short.

anonymous
Jeff T Today 09:01 AM

Go leave your midless comments elsewhere, they're not appreciated here.

anonymous
reuse it 04/07/2011 23:25 PM

You have no appreciation for the beauty in animals. So you shouldn't even be commenting this.

anonymous
Turtle Up 03/24/2011 21:00 PM

This seems like a cost effective way to clean the oceans. Breed large armies of turtles to collect all the waste.

anonymous
recycleme247 03/24/2011 21:22 PM

We use bacteria to clean up oil spills which is called bioremediation. Why not turtles to clean up our other messes?

anonymous
Whats the big deal 03/24/2011 20:25 PM

I don't always unwrap packaged food. I poop plastic all the time. If its so un-natural why am I (and this sea turtle) doing just fine?

anonymous
Wow 04/03/2011 08:44 AM

You are also functionally illiterate (as you were unable to comprehend the facts of the article), and not even remotely resembling funny. Unless, I suppose, you were amongst other 5-year-olds that just need to hear 'poop' to giggle.

recycleme247
recycleme247 03/24/2011 11:28 AM

Dirty animals!!!! buy,throw, repeat. buy,throw, repeat. We think we need things we don't, buy it, get bored with it, throw it away, and complain cuz were broke!!! when will the insanity stop? We are not the only ones on this planet. POOR TURTLE )-:

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