Environment

Green Turtles Confusing Plastic for Food Says Research

FacebookFacebookTwitterTwitterLinkedinLinkedinGmailGmail

The green turtles which are poster animals for the azure oceans and clean pristine waters have been found to be eating plastic confusing them with food.

The most common is the green and black colored plastic that resembles planktons and seagrass, which the turtles eat. This means the green and black straws are consumed as compared to other colored or differently shaped and colored plastic debris.

A study was conducted by the scientists from the University of Exeter and the Society for the Protection of Turtles (Cyprus) who examined the guts of turtles found washed up on beaches in Cyprus.

Plastic was found in all turtles whose full gastrointestinal tract was examined, with one found to contain 183 pieces. The study could not determine what, if any, role the plastic had in the turtles’ deaths. Most had likely died as a result of interaction with fishing nets.

Green Turtles with plasticGreen Turtles with plastic
Some of the plastic found in green turtles. Credit: University of Exeter

“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,” said Dr. Emily Duncan, of the University of Exeter said in a statement.

“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.

The sad part of the study was that the infant green turtles were found to have more plastic as compared to the adults. The results point to the inexperience of the smaller turtles as well as maybe the increase of plastic debris or microplastic that would have confused the young ones.

“It’s important to know what kinds of plastic might be a particular problem, as well as highlighting issues that can help motivate people to continue to work on reducing overall plastic consumption and pollution,” said Professor Brendan Godley, who leads the Exeter Marine research strategy.

The findings were published in the scientific reports.

I am Renew

Recent Posts

India’s Maiden Integrated Green Hydrogen, 2G Ethanol & API project to come up in Himachal Pradesh

In a significant move toward advancing green energy and industrial growth in the state, Himachal…

1 week ago

World’s first biomass-balanced polyethersulfone launched by BASF

Golabl chemical conglomerate BASF has announced that its now offering the world’s first biomass-balanced polyethersulfone…

1 week ago

NDDB ropes in Sustain Plus for 10,000 biogas plants in 15 states

In a crucial stint to bolster the biogas sector and sustainable dairying in the country,…

2 weeks ago

Middlebrook Solar and BESS Project Moves Forward in Australia

TotalEnergies SE has received approval to proceed with its Middlebrook solar and battery project in…

2 weeks ago

Andhra Chief Minister inaugurates Rs. 1000-cr green hydrogen blending project by Hero Future Energies

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has inaugurated the Rs 1,000-crore green hydrogen plant of…

2 weeks ago

Waste-to-Biogas: BITS Pilani team develops iSTAR technology

The BITS Pilani has developed an innovative solution for managing landfill leachate, domestic septage, and…

2 weeks ago