Turtles are washing up dead on the beaches of the United Arab Emirates due to plastic pollution. The turtles suffer from large amounts of plastic that are swept onto the beaches and into the sea from nearby landfill sites.
So far, 64 turtles have been collected from the shores of Khor Fakkkan and Kalba on the emirate of Sharjah. A marine expert who has examined the turtles, Fadi Yaghmour, aims to document and bring to the fore the dangers plastic is causing to the UAE turtles.
Plastic is regularly found in turtles’ guts as one of the last things the poor animals ate. Shockingly, 75% of green turtles consumed plastic prior to death and 57% of Loggerheads, according to Yaghmour:
“When the majority of sea turtles have plastics in their bodies, you know you have a significant problem. If there’s ever a time to care about turtles, it is now.”
The research has found that green turtles are far more likely to consume plastics since floating debris of ropes and bags resemble their natural diet of cuttlefish and jellyfish. The autopsies also highlighted how much plastic these unfortunate animals are eating, with one poor creature having 325 shards of plastic in its gut.
The news just adds more pressure on the UAE government to reduce and tackle the amount of plastic pollution the country is making!
