A baby turtle died in Florida after ingesting 104 plastic fragments. More and more turtles are being killed by plastic pollution
A little sea turtle died from ingested too much plastic. The turtle was found in poor health in Boca Raton, Florida, and taken to the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center to receive necessary treatment.
Unfortunately, the little turtle didn't make it and, after death, the autopsy revealed ben's presence 104 plastic fragments in his stomach. In the belly of the poor animal, bits of balloons, labels and plastic bottles were found.
To sensitize people to the problem ofplastic pollution, the recovery center that took charge of the animal shared a photo of the turtle's body lying next to the pieces of plastic that cost her her life, and the post immediately went viral.
Not such a happy #TurtleTuesday this week. It's washback season at Gumbo Limbo and weak, tiny turtles are washing up…
Posted by Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, Inc. on Tuesday, October 1, 2019
“It was really heartbreaking,” said Emily Mirowski, a sea turtle rehabilitation assistant at the center, “but it's something we have been seeing for several years and we are happy that people are seeing this image and we hope it is increasing awareness.
Baby turtles are highly threatened by presence of plastic in the oceans. In fact, when the eggs hatch, the newborns make their way to the floating seaweed sargassum, where they live for their first years.
These algae are unfortunately overgrown with small pieces of plastic that turtles mistake for food. When the animal's stomach fills with plastic, the turtle feels a sense of satiety and does not go looking for other food, resulting in malnutrition.
Due to the ingestion of plastic, more and more turtles are brought to the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center. At the recovery center, the animals arrive undernourished and weak. Veterinarians try to save them by hydrating them, in the hope that they will be able to excrete all the ingested plastic and regain their appetite, but most of the specimens do not survive due to the severe state of malnutrition.
It is very serious that the baby turtles die since for the conservation of the species it is imperative that the specimens survive long enough to reproduce.
The problem is only solvable eliminating or at least decreasing the consumption of plastic and managing the disposal and recycling of this material more efficiently.
Every piece of plastic that has ever been produced remains in the environment without ever being eliminated and if the plastic is abandoned in nature it is not disposed of in any way: it is reduced only into smaller and smaller pieces, responsible for environmental pollution and the death of numerous animals.
Not only the soil, the oceans and the animals are at the expense of this, but obviously also the man who lives in the environment and who feeds on the animals. It has been estimated that every week we ingest at least 5 grams of microplastics and we do not yet know what effects it may have on our health.
Read also:
- Terrible! All turtles in the world are poisoned by microplastics: the shock study
- Laundry: Gentle washing in the washing machine releases more microplastics than traditional washing
- Microplastic findings in human feces
Tatiana Maselli
Photo credit: Gumbo Limbo Nature Center
