Green turtle found with 183 pieces of plastic in him!

Last time it was a polar bear killed by us, now it is a baby green turtle.

A green baby turtle was washed up, dead , on a beach in Cyprus and was found with having 183 pieces of plastic in its gastrointestinal tract(gut).

The sea creature was one of 34 turtles examined in the same area by scientists from the University of Exeter and the Society for the Protection of Turtles.All of the turtles whose full gastrointestinal tract could be examined had swallowed plastic.

Scientists say turtles are ingesting plastics after mistaking them for their natural diet, potentially from sources like bin bags.

The creatures are more likely to swallow plastics that resemble sea grass, potentially from sources like bin bags, as well as fragments of fishing rope and carrier bags.

Dr Emily Duncan, of the University of Exeter, said: "Previous research has suggested leatherback turtles eat plastic that resembles their jellyfish prey, and we wanted to know whether a similar thing might be happening with green turtles.

"Sea turtles are primarily visual predators - able to choose foods by size and shape - and in this study we found strong evidence that green turtles favour plastic of certain sizes, shapes and colours.

"Compared to a baseline of plastic debris on beaches, the plastic we found in these turtles suggests they favour threads and sheets that are black, clear or green."

Along with that, the majority of turtles in that research died due to getting tangled in fishing nets and eating other plastics.With the smaller turtles being found with the highest number of plastic eaten.This may be through a lack of experience and could eat the wrong food ,some say.

A balloon was one of the things this baby turtle swallowed.

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By Adi,GoGreenPlanet