Harmful effects of marine debris on turtles off UAE coast - in pictures

Sea creatures mistake floating plastic waste for food

An employee holds a green sea turtle with an amputated flipper, after it was rescued from entanglement in marine debris, at the Khor Kalba Conservation Reserve in the city of Kalba, on the east coast of the United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022. A staggering 75% of all dead green turtles and 57% of all loggerhead turtles in Sharjah had eaten marine debris, including plastic bags, bottle caps, rope and fishing nets, a new study published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin. The study seeks to document the damage and danger of the throwaway plastic that has surged in use around the world and in the UAE, along with other marine debris. (AP Photo / Kamran Jebreili)

Three quarters of green turtles and more than half of loggerhead turtles found dead in Sharjah had eaten marine debris, including plastic bags, bottle caps, rope and fishing nets, says a study published in the 'Marine Pollution Bulletin'.

Plastic discovered in an autopsy on a dead turtle. The study documents the damage caused by a surge in discarded plastic and other debris in the world's seas.

No plastic was found in the bodies of turtles in the only previous Gulf of Oman study, in 1985. 'When the majority of sea turtles have plastics in their bodies, you know you have a significant problem,' said Fadi Yaghmour, a marine expert who carried out the study.

Debris found inside dead turtles in Sharjah. One turtle had 325 shards, another 32 pieces of fishing net. They can cause blockages that prevent the animals from eating.

The study found that green sea turtles were inclined to eat drifting plastic bags and ropes, which resemble their diet of cuttlefish and jellyfish. Loggerheads ate bottle caps and other small pieces of hard plastic mistaken for marine invertebrates. The youngest turtles ate the most plastic.

Conservationists in the UAE are seeking to protect the country’s turtles from the threats. Community officers respond to reports of turtles in distress and rescue the reptiles for rehabilitation. 'If we lose these turtles, the ecosystem will die,' said Abdulkarim Vettan operational manager at Al Qurum Mangrove Centre in Kalba.

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