Marine Animal Welfare

Marine Turtles: Plastic Ingestion and Entanglement

Marine turtles face serious welfare threats from plastic pollution through ingestion of plastic debris and entanglement in discarded fishing gear and packaging.

Key Facts

Over 50% of sea turtles worldwide have ingested plastic debris
Floating plastic bags are mistaken for jellyfish, a primary food source for leatherback turtles
Ingested plastic causes internal blockages, nutritional deficiency and death
Ghost fishing gear entanglement causes drowning, flipper loss and chronic stress
An estimated 1,000 sea turtles die each year in ghost gear in the Mediterranean alone

Welfare Considerations

Plastic pollution causes both acute suffering through entanglement and drowning, and chronic welfare impacts through partial gut blockage and malnutrition. Turtles struggling with entanglement experience sustained pain and exhaustion. Reducing single-use plastics and ghost gear are among the most impactful actions for sea turtle welfare.

What You Can Do

Reduce single-use plastic consumption in your daily life
Support ghost fishing gear retrieval programmes
Participate in or donate to beach clean-up initiatives
Advocate for extended producer responsibility legislation for plastic packaging