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A First Attempt at Modeling the Global Reservoir of Plastic in Biota: A Case Study With Sea Turtles
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Researchers developed a regression model to estimate plastic loads in sea turtles globally, finding that latitude, country income level, and species significantly predict plastic ingestion. Their first-of-its-kind estimate suggests female green turtles globally carry 5.6–6.4 tonnes of plastic in their digestive tracts at any given time.
Abstract Marine wildlife ingest plastic, making them a reservoir for plastic debris. To date, we lack estimates of how much plastic resides within marine animals globally, making it difficult to reconcile the fate of plastic in the global ocean. To help fill this knowledge gap, we collected data on amount of plastic debris found in sea turtles necropsy studies from the scientific literature up until 1 January 2020. We aimed to use this data ( n = 60), along with predictor variables, in a regression model to quantify how much plastic resides within sea turtles globally. We found that geographic (absolute latitude), socio‐economic (income of country), and ecological (species name) indicators significantly correlate with how much plastic is found in sea turtle gastrointestinal tracts. Our multispecies model suggests that leatherback turtles ( Dermochelys coriacea ) contain the most plastic in their gastrointestinal tracts, and loggerhead turtles ( Caretta caretta ) contain the least. This presents one of the first attempts to understand which sea turtle species has the highest propensity for plastic ingestion. Due to limited data, we were only able to estimate the amount of plastics that reside in female green turtles ( Chelonia mydas ) globally for a snapshot in time. Here, we provide the first estimate of a global marine animal reservoir of plastic– we estimate that at any given time, female green turtles carry 5.6–6.4 tonnes of plastic in their gastrointestinal tracts. We discuss future research directions to help reduce the uncertainty surrounding this estimate and fill in the gaps for other species.
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A First Attempt at Modeling the Global Reservoir of Plastic in Biota: A Case Study With Sea Turtles
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This study developed a first-attempt global model to estimate the reservoir of plastic debris residing within marine biota, using sea turtles as a case study. The work contributes to reconciling the fate of plastic in the global ocean by quantifying how much plastic is stored within marine animal populations.
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Researchers developed a modeling approach to quantify how plastic ingestion affects the growth, reproduction, and population dynamics of marine wildlife, using loggerhead turtles as a test case. They found that having 3-25% plastics in digestive contents could reduce reproductive output by 10-88% compared to unaffected turtles. The study introduces a method for identifying ecological breakpoints where plastic pollution could cause population declines in affected species.
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Researchers analyzed over 10,000 necropsies of seabirds, marine mammals, and sea turtles to quantify the risk of death from swallowing large plastic debris. The study found that sea turtles faced the highest mortality rate at 4.4%, and the type of plastic mattered: rubber was most dangerous for seabirds, fishing debris for marine mammals, and soft plastics for sea turtles.
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Researchers analyzed two datasets covering hundreds of sea turtles and found a quantitative link between the amount of plastic debris ingested and the probability of death. The study estimated that ingesting as few as 14 pieces of plastic significantly increases mortality risk, providing some of the first direct statistical evidence connecting plastic ingestion volume to lethal outcomes in marine turtles.
Do loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) gut contents reflect the types, colors and sources of plastic pollution in the Southwest Indian Ocean?
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This study analyzed plastic debris ingested by loggerhead sea turtles caught as bycatch in the Southwest Indian Ocean from 2007–2021, finding that 76% of 266 turtles had ingested plastics, primarily hard and white items. Brand auditing and ocean circulation modeling indicated Southeast Asia as the main source of plastic pollution in the region, demonstrating that loggerheads can serve as bioindicators of plastic pollution.
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