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Loading...Long, Slow Death of a Sea Turtle
317 pieces. That’s how much plastic clogged the digestive system of the giant sea turtle found dead on a beach in New South Wales. The animal had quietly and slowly starved. Food could no longer find its way past the bits of fishing line, plastic bags, small lids, plastic tape, and lollipop sticks the turtle had mistaken for food.
This was a young animal so the plastic was packed into a body that had grown to only 15 inches (40 centimeters). Australian Seabird Rescue volunteers who performed the necropsy called their findings the worst example of plastic ingestion they had seen in 15 years.
Plastic rubbish in 30% of dead turtles
A new study from Earthwatch in Queensland looked at the guts of over 120 dead turtles found in Moreton Bay. Dr. Kathy Townsend found plastic rubbish in over 30 per cent of them.
In an interview with ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), Townsend describes the turtles’ lingering deaths. As bits of plastic get stuck in their digestive systems, the debris mixes with what organic material they can still take in. The toxic mix decomposes, creating gas. The now-buoyant turtles are unable to dive. They can’t feed or avoid boats. “So it also means that they basically become very dehydrated, and they starve to death, and this can last for months.”
In the ABC footage seen at this link, seabird rescue spokeswoman Rochelle Ferris calls on all levels of government to invest more money in “reducing the amount of marine debris that’s coming from our urban environments into the ocean. If we do control this marine debris issue, I’ll be out of work, but I’d like to be doing something that doesn’t break my heart every day.”
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Photo by rogerimp
Read more: ecosystems, environment & wildlife, garbage, garbage patches, marine rubbish, ocean, oceans, plankton, plastic, plastic bags, plastic pollution coalition, pollution, sea, trash, turtles
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+ add your ownShame on all these people who allowed this to happen .
this is sad and disgusting. if there aren't huge fines for littering--there should be. and better ways to catch the slobs at doing it--because most do get away with it because there's no one around to see most of it happening. I've seen all kinds of stuff on the beach-- it's gross that some two-leggeds think they can do whatever they feel like--wherever they want. Too lazy to look for a garbage can? Bring a big bag with you to parks, beaches-rest areas, etc--and take it home and throw it away. The world is not your trash can. -_____- Too many 'lesser' animals are affected by the laziness and stupidity of bi-peds. If they make the penalties for things bigger--then maybe more people will actually think before just chucking something out the car door, or anywhere else. And even if it's disposed of in the right way--in cans or something--it's still getting out into the water. People in charge of those things have to find out why---and stop it from happening.
I am sickened by the slow death and torture of this beautiful, innocent creature. And to think this could have been avoided if it weren't for man. The turtles and other sea dwellers didn't put the garbage in the water!
This is so sad. An innocent animal died because of human waste and laziness.
This is a very sad story. Other animals has to go only because "we" humans do not want to share the world with other life forms, these life forms "we" would not eat (vegetarian food is not a bad idea, or eating with conscience as the so called primitive cultures did and still do, if they still exist. No meat/fish every day). "We" destroy averything around us and "we" forget, that everything is important to survive, too.
As little child i thought that rain is when God and the angels cry - because "we" humans have forgotten that we need this "intelligence", someone who could help... if "we" hadn't turned away for many centuries ago...
"Only when the last tree has been cut down; Only when the last river has been poisoned; Only when the last fish has been caught; Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten."
(Native American proverb)
"We have learned to fly the air like birds and swim the sea like fish, but we have not yet learned the simple art of living together as brothers." (Martin Luther King)
Heartbreaking...
Ban the use of plastic bags and we must also be responsible as to how we dispose of products we do use they are killing the sea life and damaging the environment. Can you just imagine the agony this poor creature had to endure? Stop littering and use the appropriate disposals for your trash. And if you see trash, pick it up and put it in the trash can.
When I was a child, my father taught us that as human beings, we are the care takers of this world and it's our responsibility to take care of our wildlife and our environment. It's a lesson I've never forgotten. It's beyond sad to think of the pain imposed on these poor creatures, because some people are either too lazy or too uncaring to recycle. It's time to learn to respect the eco system. The planet is meant to be shared by all.
Toni Adisano
How incredibly sad.
Can you just imagine the agony this poor creature had to endure? As humans we should be ashamed and embarassed at how we treat one another, the animals of the world and our environment. We can, and must, do better.
Ban the use of plastic bags and we must also be responsible as to how we dispose of products we do use...they are killing the sea life and damaging the environment.
This story is very upsetting.
RIP
This was a very sad story but unfortunately until people learn to recycle and put rubbish in the bin where it belongs, these deaths will be common, but i do my bit every bit of my rubbish is recycled, Recycle People save the Planet its the only one we have!
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