University of Queensland. (2015, September 14). World’s turtles face plastic deluge danger. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 22, 2015 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/09/150914102741.htm

According to an international study conducted by the University of Queensland, Australia, about 52% of the sea turtles in the world have ingested plastic or another kind of human generated garbage. Plastic ingestion is a serious health issue for sea turtles, whose guts can be blocked or pierced by litter, leading to their deaths. The amount of pollution entering the ocean leads to a higher amount of turtles that ingest the trash. This high ingestion rate could also spread to other marine animals, such as fish.

It seems that pollution, and the capitalist/consumerist economy and society that leads to high levels of waste, is not only clogging the ocean and creating islands of garbage, but is also beginning to intensely effect multiple species of sea creatures, including the world’s sea turtle population. This study is shocking, because it shows how the Western lifestyle especially is killing specific species, killing the food web, and killing the ecosystem. The study above should serve as a wake up call to individuals as well as governments, who need to waste less, and pass laws ensuring that pollution is curbed in order to stop contributing to these animals’ deaths.