More Turtles. Less Plastic - Research and Recovery Successes

 

 Marc Ward and Sea Turtles Forever Click here for the Sea Turtles Forever page on Facebook, and follow all the updates. Thanks to all of our Experiment Crowdfund Supporters,

 

 Dermochelys coriacea Eschrichtius robustus Click here for April 12 photos and here for June 7 photos of Marine Debris Action Teams removing over 1,150 lbs of plastic marine debris in 2014! Risk calculations are improved with robust data. The following peer-reviewed manuscript published in Marine Pollution Bulletin can be used to improve our understanding of the risk of toxic plastic ingestion to endangered sea turtles and advance the project's goals. "This study documents and quantifies the ingestion and defecation of debris by 74 loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) in the South-West Indian Ocean. Debris was found in 51.4% of gut or fecal samples of loggerheads by-catch from Reunion Island long liners. Anthropogenic debris was ubiquitous in our samples with plastics accounting for 96.2% of the total debris collected." Ingestion and defecation of marine debris by loggerhead sea turtles, Caretta caretta, from by-catches in the South-West Indian Ocean. Ludovic Hoaraua, Lara Ainleyb, Claire Jeana, and Stéphane Ciccioneaa Kelonia.  Available online 7 June 2014