Sea turtles don’t know what plastic is, and plastic bags look like their natural food: jellyfish. The reasons are simple: a floating plastic bag can look like many jellyfish, algae, or other species that comprise a significant component of the sea turtles’ diets.
Plastic is devastating sea turtles. Research suggests that 52% of the world’s turtles have eaten plastic waste. The carnivorous loggerhead and mainly plant-eating green turtle both were shown to be consuming plastic in alarming quantities, according to a study from the University of Tokyo. Loggerheads ate plastic 17% of the time they encountered it, likely mistaking it for jellyfish. This figure rocketed to 62% for green turtles, probably on the hunt for algae.
Tragically, the accumulation of plastics at key nesting beaches means that baby turtles are among the most at risk from plastic entanglement, preventing them from reaching the sea. The outlook for turtles that eat plastic is bleak: for 22%, ingesting just one plastic item can be a death sentence. Sharp plastics can rupture internal organs, and bags can cause intestinal blockages, leaving turtles unable to feed, resulting in starvation.
So, please, discard your plastic in the trash cans available on every Hilton Head Island beach. Do not leave it in the sand, ending up in the ocean.
