The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Disturbing: plastic waste was found in the bodies of all the sea turtles examined in Israel Israel today

2022-09-18T12:43:26.224Z


8 million tons of plastic are thrown into the sea every year, and in Israel it was found that up to 90% of the marine waste is plastic that is almost non-biodegradable • A comprehensive study by the Ministry of Environmental Protection reveals disturbing findings about the plastic pollution on the beaches and their effect on the animals


The Ministry of Environmental Protection, in cooperation with the Nature and Parks Authority and the Seas and Lakes Research Institute, is publishing a first comprehensive report of its kind on the impact of marine debris in the eastern Mediterranean on sea turtles that were released to Israel.

The research made use of data collected over 22 years (1999-2021) at the National Sea Turtle Rescue Center of the Nature and Parks Authority, as well as a one-year pilot in monitoring waste in the stomachs of dead sea turtles that washed up on the shores of Israel, which was done in collaboration between the National Sea Turtle Rescue Center and the Marine Research Institute and lakes to Israel.

The report presents alarming findings and confirms the fear of the negative impact of marine waste in general and plastic waste in particular, on marine habitats and the sea turtle population.

Debris on the beach, a main cause of damage to sea turtles, photo: Yehoshua Yosef

The main findings of the report

Between the years 1999-2021, 524 turtles that were damaged by marine debris were recorded in the rescue center's database.

About 80% of them (426 individuals) were injured by entanglement in fishing gear or other terrestrial waste source and the rest (98 individuals) suffered damage to the digestive system.

Also, plastic waste was found in the stomachs of 100% of the sea turtles tested regardless of the species (brown or green sea turtle), sex (male or female) or the size of the turtle.

In everything related to vulnerability, a clear multi-year increasing trend was found in the number of cases of young sea turtles becoming entangled in polypropylene bags used to store food for animals in the meat industry, reaching up to about half of the cases treated at the rescue center.

The mortality rate for turtles entangled in bags is 11%.

In addition, about a quarter of the survivors (24%) lose limbs as a result of entanglement in the untied bag wires.

They are released back into the wild after rehabilitation, but amputations reduce survival rates in the wild and will likely affect their ability to reproduce if they reach sexual maturity.

Spending time at the beach (illustration), photo: Yehoshua Yosef

47% of the waste impacts are from fishing waste.

Ghost nets, fishing lines and hooks were found both as a cause of entanglement and in the stomachs of the turtles.

The scope of the vulnerabilities associated with waste digestion is probably higher than what we know.

The causes of death of turtles washed ashore dead are varied, and usually cannot be determined without an autopsy.

Autopsies on hatched turtles began only about a year ago.

Several cases of clogging of the digestive system by plastic waste were also observed, which suggests waste digestion as a direct cause of turtle mortality.

18,380 pieces of waste were isolated from the stomachs of 21 sea turtles.

One single green turtle carried about 12,000 of them in its stomach.

Most of the plastic found in the stomachs was colorless or white, colors that give the plastic particles an appearance similar to the natural food of the turtles floating in the water column.

In 15% of the turtles, in addition to particles of bags and fishing equipment, also plastic pellets used in the cosmetics and cleaning materials industry were found.

Of the few sightings of loggerhead sea turtles off the coast of Israel, 6 of the deaths (21%) were apparently directly caused by plastic, half of them from fishing waste and half from plastic digestion.

A sea turtle entangled in plastic waste, photo: Dr. Yaniv Levy, Nature and Parks Authority

The National Center for the Rescue of Sea Turtles of the Nature and Parks Authority, Israel's belief in the protection of wildlife, was established in 1999 with the aim of rehabilitating and returning the injured turtles back to nature after treatment, recovery and recovery.

Since its establishment, over 1,300 individuals have been treated at the center, mainly brown and green sea turtles as well as softshell turtles, sea turtles and even dolphins.

About 70% of the sea turtles were released back to the sea after treatment and rehabilitation.

In connection with the conclusions of the report, it should be noted that according to various estimates, 8 million tons of plastic are thrown into the sea every year, and in Israel it was found that up to 90% of the marine waste is plastic that is almost non-biodegradable. This finding is higher than the global data and the data in the rest of the Mediterranean region. At least 58% of the waste In the sea and on the beaches it is terrestrial, meaning it originates from the public on the beaches.

were we wrong

We will fix it!

If you found an error in the article, we would appreciate it if you shared it with us

Source: israelhayom

All news articles on 2022-09-18

You may like

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.