Data Collection on Marine Litter Ingestion in Sea Turtles and Thresholds for Good Environmental Status

Matiddi, Marco; deLucia, Giuseppe A.; Silvestri, Cecilia; Darmon, Gaëlle; Tòmàs, Jesús; Pham, Christopher K.; Camedda, Andrea; Vandeperre, Frédéric; Claro, Françoise; Kaska, Yakup; Kaberi, Helen; Revuelta, Ohiana; Piermarini, Raffaella; Daffina, Roberto; Pisapia, Marco; Genta, Daniela; Sözbilen, Doğan; Bradai, Mohamed N.; Rodríguez, Yasmina; Gambaiani, Delphine; Tsangaris, Catherine; Chaieb, Olfa; Moussier, Judicaëlle; Loza, Ana Liria; Miaud, Claude

doi:10.3791/59466

Cited by 6 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 21 publications

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“…The GI tracts were stored at −20 • C until further analysis was possible. For analysis, the GI tracts were thawed out overnight, and the entire contents of each were strained through a 1 mm mesh sieve using fresh water to dilute the GI contents (following [23]). Plastic pieces were retrieved with forceps, cleaned, dried in a Binder incubator for three days at 30 • C, then stored.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Preliminary Report of Plastic Ingestion by Hawksbill and Green Turtles in the Saudi Arabian Red Sea

Tanabe

Cochran

Hardenstine

et al. 2023

Animals

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(1) Background: Plastic pollution is a major environmental concern confronting marine animals. Sea turtles are considered a bio-indicator of plastic pollution, but there is little information regarding plastic ingestion by turtles in the Red Sea. With large-scale development projects being built along the Saudi Arabian coast, it is important to have a baseline for plastic ingestion before construction is complete. (2) Methods: Ten deceased sea turtles (four hawksbill and six green turtles) were collected along the Saudi Arabian coastline. Necropsies were conducted, and the entire gastrointestinal tracts were extracted and the contents were passed through a 1 mm mesh sieve. (3) Results: We found that 40% of the turtles in this study had ingested plastics. Thread-like plastics were the most common plastic category, and multi-colored was the most prevalent color category. (4) Conclusions: Monitoring of the plastic ingestion by marine megafauna should be conducted as a long-term assessment of the developments’ impacts. Additionally, conservation efforts should be focused on removing plastics (namely ghost nests and fishing lines) from the reefs and reducing the amount of plastic entering the sea.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%