Why is plastic a deadly attraction to sea turtles?

Therefore, a plastic bag floating in the sea not only looks like a jellyfish-like snack, but it also emits a similar smell.

These "olfactory traps" may help explain why sea turtles are easy to eat and become entangled in plastic, US researchers said.

Plastic debris is rapidly accumulating in the oceans. Plastic bags, nets and plastic bottles pose a threat to hundreds of marine species, including turtles, birds and whales.

The smell emanating from floating or submerged plastic is an "olfactory trap " for sea turtles, said Dr. Joseph Pfaller of the University of Florida, Gainesville. which is an evolutionary adaptation to find food, but now it has become a problem for turtles because they are attracted to the smell of plastic , " he said.

Caretta turtles are returned to the sea.

Once plastic enters the ocean, bacteria, algae, plants and tiny animals begin to colonize it and turn it into their home. This creates a food-like smell, which has been shown to be a magnet for fish and possibly sea birds. New research shows sea turtles are attracted to plastic for the same reason.

"Sea predators such as turtles, whales and seabirds look for food on a large area to find food by using chemicals in air or water," Dr Pfaller said. visual stuff - they're being drawn from such great distances to these landfills out to sea. "

Sand sculpture on the beach in India.

The dangers of items such as straws and plastic bags for sea turtles are known. A video of a plastic straw rising from the nose went viral in social media in 2015.

Dr Pfaller said all kinds of resins were a threat : "The resin in the nose is a problem, but the bacteria and animals on the plastic have the aroma that the tortoise wants to eat and so they tend to to inspection and consumption. This leads to their deaths. "

The findings, published in the journal Curent Biology, are based on an experiment involving 15 sea turtles that have been kept in captivity.

The researchers put odors into the air above a water tank and recorded the turtle's reaction using the camera, and the animals responded in a similar way to the smell from the plastic released into the air as they did with food. eat like fish and shrimp meal.

When they exhale, they hold their nose out of the water three times longer than normal to smell the smell of weathered plastic.

The findings pave the way for research to protect marine animals threatened by plastic debris at sea, primarily through entanglement and ingestion.

A recent study showed that with the current trend, 99% of seabirds will eat plastic waste by 2050.

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