This is the original video! Filmed by Christine Figgener, marine biologist at Texas A&M University.
***WARNING: Graphic Content & Inappropiate/ Strong Language!***
This video shows graphically why plastic waste is detrimental to marine life, especially single-use plastics (such as straws, which are one of the most redundant items). This turtle suffers from an item that is human-made and used by most of us frequently.
The research team around Christine Figgener (Texas A&M University) found a male Olive Ridley sea turtle during an in-water research trip in Costa Rica.
He had a 10-12 cm PLASTIC STRAW lodged in his nostril and they removed it.
SAY “NO” TO PLASTIC STRAWS, AND ANY KIND OF ONE-TIME USE PLASTIC ITEMS!
If you would like to support our research and conservation efforts in Costa Rica, please think about donating to our GoFundMe Campaign
http://gofundme.com/wuhvd6zj
UPDATES
The Plastic Pollution Coalition just launched their “No Straw” Campaign in collaboration with us.
Take the No-Straw-Pledge and learn more:
http://www.plasticpollutioncoalition….
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The Story behind the viral video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLN52…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MPHb…
OUR STORY:
My research team found a male Olive Ridley sea turtle during an in-water research trip in Costa Rica.
He had a 10-12 cm PLASTIC STRAW lodged in his nostril.
After initially thinking that we are looking at a parasitic worm, and trying to remove it to identify it, we cut a small piece off to investigate further and finally identified what we were REALLY looking at.
After a short debate about what we should do we removed it with the plier of a swiss army knife which was the only tool available on our small boat (not intended for overnight stays), since we were on the ocean, in a developing country, a few hours away from the coast and several hours away from any vet (probably days from any vet specialised in reptiles, not to mention sea turtles) and x-ray machines. Plus, we would have incurred a penalty (up to time in jail) on ourselves by removing the turtle since that is beyond our research permits. He did very obviously not enjoy the procedure very much, but we hope that he is now able to breath more freely.
The blood from the shoulder is from a 6mm skin biopsy we took previously to this event for a genetic study (part of our permitted research), which usually doesn’t bleed much, but which started bleeding while restraining the turtle.
We disinfected the air passageway with iodine and kept the turtle for observation before releasing him back into the wild.
The bleeding stopped pretty much immediately after the removal of the straw, and when we released him, he swam happily away.
The turtle very likely swallowed the straw while ingesting other food items and then either expelled the straw together with the redundant sea water through her nostrils, or regurgitated the straw and it ended up in the wrong passageway. The nasal cavity of sea turtles is connected directly to the palate (roof of the mouth) by a long nasopharyngeal duct.
Copyright: Christine Figgener
To use this video in a commercial player or in broadcasts, please email licensing@storyful.com
If you are interested in following my adventures in the world of marine turtles and ocean conservation, make sure to also follow me on Social Media:
IG http://bit.ly/2Ky4DR5 – @ocean_amazon
Twitter http://bit.ly/2lJpu64 – @ChrisFiggener
Facebook http://bit.ly/2MBeFyp – @cfiggener
http://puranatura.zenfolio.com/
Contact Email: christine.figgener@tamu.edu
http://www.bio.tamu.edu/index.php/directory/graduate-student-figgener/
Christine Figgener, Dipl.-Biol. (M.S.)
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BACKGROUND
What are single-use plastic items?
http://www.greeneriepa.org/single-use…
http://singleuseplastic.co.uk/what-we…
What can you do?
REDUCE (REFUSE=STRAWS)/ RE-USE/ RECYCLE
http://www.recycling-guide.org.uk/rrr…
Organise your own beach cleanups!
An amazing plastic clean-up project is the TWO HANDS PROJECT, collect trash and post it on facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/twohandsproject
http://www.twohandsproject.org/
MORE INFO:
http://micro2016.sciencesconf.org/
http://www.kcet.org/news/redefine/red…
http://www.plasticchange.org/en/om-pl…
http:/theoceancleanup.com
source
Oh Hony that’s gross
I noticed in my country the cups we used is only washed I MEAN NO DISHSOAP THAT IS WHY I USE PLASTIC CUPS
Im sory for that lil guy 🙁 that made me cry ;-;
It's in pain he was like squeezing his eyes shut
#StopAnimalAbuse
DON'T TELL ME IT'S A F******G STRAW!
And it was that moment in the turtle's life that he knew he'd finally hit rock bottom with his cocaine addiction.
Man that hurts dont those these can of stuff because it can kill turtles
Straws are small
There are pros?? and cons? to this.
?Cons? – Straws are so small that most trash? companies cant properly dispose of them. Straws are not recyclable nor biodegradable??, this meaning if a straw made its way in the ocean? it can take a minimum of 500? years for it to decompose. By 2050 (only about 30 years away) there will be more trash in the ocean than fish?. The trash and especially straws are destroying marine life and their habitats.
??Pros??- Metal and Glass straws are small as well, but that's a good thing. If you buy a metal or glass straw you can clean after use it and put it in your purse?, backpack?, car?, etc. and always have it on hand. ??They are small, compact and all together easy to carry around. Weather your at a restaurant? or a friend's? house you can have you metal/plastic straw. It may take a little extra time to clean the straw or make sure you have it with you but in the long run, i personally believe saving our earth? and ?wildlife? is more important. By dedicating at most 2 minutes⏰ of your day to cleaning and having you metal straw with you, you can save lives all around the earth????.
?♻️Most simple metal and glass straw sets cost on average between 4-10 dollars on Amazon.♻️ ?
?What did the turtles ever do to you? ?Let's make a change in this potentially wonderful world, its easy.?
1. ?Avoid using plastic eating utensils, styrofoam takeout containers, etc.?
2. If you see trash on the ground pick it up, and determine if it is ♻️recyclable or ?not. ♻️If it is dispose of it in a proper recycling bin. ?If not put it in a trash can because if you dont, the trash eventually makes its way into storms? drains which lead to river? which finally leads to the ocean? and marine life?.
????Make a change, its not too difficult!???
Save the turtles no plastic
I feel bad
Aww the poor baby is in pain ?
That sad ?
Is that even a straw
poor turtle
That looks ? and looks like it hurts poor guy
Whatever is coming human's way, it is fully deserved…!
I use metal straws!
omg stop trying to grab the inner guage of the straw and grab some real purchase. fucks sake pliers arent that hard to use.
Poor turtle . That’s why I use metal straws ?? those turtles need to be saved . I’m bet that turtle is happy you helped him . I wish he didn’t bleed though.
Jesus it looks like it’s in excruciating pain fuck this gives me shivers
For some reason it hurt me every time they try pulling it out
omg! this is terrible
looks at the straw I'm using for my drink
BURNS THE STRAW
Poor turtle, was really hard to watch.??
how satisfy when it remove
oh my goodness that hurts just thinking about it
you guys realize that not using a plastic straw doesn't make it non existent? no matter what you do, it will end up in the ocean, in the air, or on the ground somewhere. "IF I DONT USE THIS, IT'LL CEASE TO EXIST!" product sits there product gets old and you have to throw it out, even if it isn't used product still ends up in the ocean
like dang yall are so dumb
I feel so bad
Can I use this in my video as I want to save the world and talk about recycling?
My poor baby???
Poor turtle…?
1:28 neighborhood priest from my childhood said that to us all the time
Thank you so much for helping that turtle
Omg this is what our world has come to… the poor turtles
We need to stop world pollution please