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The researchers found that once a turtle had eaten a piece of plastic, it had a 22% chance of dying and, according to the study published in Scientific Reports, the risk of death had passed at 50% at the time of ingestion of 14 plastic items. Thursday.
When the load reaches about 100 pieces, death is certain, says the study.
"We knew that turtles were consuming a lot of plastic, but we were not sure if this plastic actually caused turtle deaths," said CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere researcher Dr. Chris Wilcox.
Sea turtles were among the first animals to ingest plastic.
Being able to understand the effect of plastic on them will help scientists determine the impact of pollution on the world's population of the seven species.
The modeling can also be adapted to study other marine animals affected by plastics in the world's oceans.
The study reveals that young sea turtles are the most vulnerable because they drift with currents where floating debris accumulate and because they are less demanding than adults as to what they are. ;they are going to eat.
Worldwide, more than half of all seven species of sea turtles have consumed plastic debris, said Britta Denise Hardesty, lead author of the paper and senior researcher at CSIRO in Tasmania. "No matter where you are, you will find plastic," she said.
Six of the seven marine turtle species are considered threatened, although many populations are recovering.
AAP, with the New York Times
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