Five sea turtles have been found stranding dead in the Corsica by the French Mediterranean stranding network (RTMMF).
G. Darmon (CNRS) and F. Claro (MNHN) supported C. Cesarini (RTMMF) to necropsy and analyse the debris ingested by the sea turtles. Incredibly high quantities of debris were found in all 5 sea turtles, mostly white, transparent and black coloured plastics (Fig. 1 and 2). The plastics were classified and weighted according to the INDICIT standard protocol (Fig 3).
Turtles ingested daily use plastics such as plastic bags, packaging, cup, bottle cork or lollipops.
Fig 1. Plastics found in a turtle’s stomach (left) and intestines (right). Photo G. Darmon
Fig. 2. Sheets of plastics, packaging, flask (salad dressing?), cup and bottle cork are part of the items found in a turtle’s digestive tract. Photo G. Darmon
Fig. 3. Classification of the debris found in one of the 5 turtles’ digestive tract according to the INDICIT standard protocol.