It's Not A Collage. It's The Scrap Plastic Recovered From One Juvenile Sea Turtle's Stomach

[hatrack]

This collection of hundreds of coloured, jagged shards could be a work of abstract art. But the objects in the photograph to the right are the contents of the stomach of a sea turtle that lost its battle with plastic pollution. Environmentalists examined the stomach of the juvenile turtle found off the coast of Argentina. The bellyful of debris that they found is symptomatic of the increasing threat to the sea turtles from a human addiction to plastic.

Sea turtles often mistake plastic items for jellyfish or other food. Ingesting non-biodegradable ocean pollution can cause a digestive blockage and internal lacerations. The result can be debilitation, followed by death.

Humans currently produce 260 million tons of plastic a year. When those products are pulled into the sea's currents, the plastics do not biodegrade but are broken into smaller pieces which are consumed by marine life at the bottom of the food chain. An examination of gastrointestinal obstruction in a green turtle found off Florida discovered that, over the course of a month, the animal's faeces had contained 74 foreign objects, including "four types of latex balloons, different types of hard plastic, a piece of carpet-like material and two 2-4mm tar balls."

EDIT

Almost all marine species, from plankton to whales, have ingested plastic. But, even in small quantities, plastic can kill sea turtles due to obstruction of the oesophagus or perforation of the bowel, the biologists said. ifty out of 92 turtles found dead, stranded on the shorelines of Rio Grande do Sul state in Brazil, had ingested a "considerable amount of man-made debris".

EDIT

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/the-plastic-found-in-a-single-turtles-stomach-2251230.html

[phantom power]

1. but *also* a collage!

[Buzz Clik]

2. Poor critter.

[iwishiwas]

3. That makes me sad -so sad.

[CrispyQ]

4. Chris Jordan, Midway: Message from the Gyre

http://www.chrisjordan.com/gallery/midway/#CF000313%2018x24



Heartbreaking photos.

And this one, too:



Human beings are not worthy of this fine planet.

[callous taoboy]

5. very sad.

[Mnemosyne]

6. CrispyQ is exactly right - "Human beings are not worthy of this fine planet.". K&R n/t

[slay]

10. +1

we really aren't

[mysuzuki2]

7. What about individual responsibility?

That turtle CHOSE to eat those plastic thingies. Why are you trying to blame the rest of us for ITS OWN poor food choices? BTW, does anyone know where I can find that sarcasm icon? I thought it was around here someplace.

[buddysmellgood]

8. On the other hand: turtles appear to be very good at cleaning up plastic!!!

[slay]

9. So sad

that all the other creatures on this planet have to suffer for our stupidity.

[freshwest]

11. OMG, that makes me cry. I remember Cousteau's pleas from years ago, still unheeded.