All marine turtle species are experiencing serious threats to their survival. The main threats are pollution and changes to important turtle habitats, especially coral reefs, seagrass beds, mangrove forests and nesting beaches.
Many turtles eat small jellyfish and squid and often mistake plastic bags for food. This not only leads to choking, but also the combination with digestion of other food creates a gas that results in floatation.
University of Queensland's Dr. Townsned - Plastic bags turtle's greatest killer, March 2008"Sea turtles are particularly susceptible to the effects of marine rubbish due to the internal structure of their throats and die a slow and painful death. Sea turtles have downward facing spines in their throats which literally prevent them from regurgitating," Dr Townsend said. "The plastic gets trapped in the gut, preventing food from going down and the spines prevent it from coming back up. The trapped food decomposes, leaking gases into the body cavity and causing the animal to float".
By encouraging people to dispose of litter properly means less plastic in the ocean and decreased harm to marine life. The turtle will be the face of our non-littering campaign and demonstrate how something so small that can be done on a daily basis can have such a large impact on the environment. But why should people get involved? For the good of goodness sake!
