[LUM#9] Plastic and the Turtle

[LUM Magazine] - Published on July 2, 2019 in Science and Society

In France, 85% of sea turtles have ingested plastic waste from our everyday consumption. This is the alarming finding reported by researchers from the European INDICIT project, who are studying the presence of plastic in the digestive systems of these marine animals.

“Cake wrappers, lollipop sticks, cotton swabs, bottle caps, salad dressing bottles, trash bags, pieces of paper cups… ” All of these disposable items are things that Gaëlle Darmon, a researcher at the Center for Functional and Evolutionary Ecology (CEFE), did not expect to find almost systematically in the digestive tracts of turtles.

Floating turtles

For nearly two years, the researcher and her colleagues have been tracking the presence of plastic in the digestive tracts of sea turtles. According to the initial findings of this project, known as INDICIT (Indicator Impact Turtle), 60% of the 1,000 loggerhead turtles observed had ingested plastic waste. “ This varies between 25% and 85% depending on the country,” explains Gaëlle Darmon, “with a rate of around 80–85% for France, Italy, and Spain. It even reaches 100% in very specific areas of the French Mediterranean.”

With serious consequences for these iconic marine animals. “While direct deaths from intestinal blockage or perforation are observed in only 1 or 2 percent of cases, plastic ingestion has other serious health consequences, ” notes the researcher. In particular, the plastic in their digestive tracts prevents turtles from feeding and moving normally. “We’ve seen turtles floating on the surface and unable to dive because the plastic traps air bubbles.”

A study conducted in seven countries

To carry out this project, around 100 stakeholders across seven countries were brought together. In France—where the project is led by the CNRS—as well as in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Turkey, and Tunisia, researchers from ten laboratories have partnered with rehabilitation centers or stranding networks. “Thanks to them, we were able to perform autopsies on dead turtles and study the feces of turtles brought in alive to the care centers, ” explains Gaëlle Darmon.

In Montpellier, these observations were made possible thanks to the Center for the Study and Conservation of Mediterranean Sea Turtles (CESTMed), based in Le Grau-du-Roi, and the French Mediterranean Sea Turtle Network (RTMMF).

According to the researcher, the study, which was completed in January 2019, will make it possible to “take stock of pollution levels in the Atlantic and Mediterranean regions in order to assess the effectiveness of the measures that will be taken, ” but also, and above all, to raise public awareness of “the urgent need to reduce our consumption of single-use items.”

Keywords: Environment, LUM#9, LUM Magazine, Research