Half of world's sea turtles have swallowed plastic or other rubbish: Australian researchers

Rubbish and debris entering into the marine environment is become a more high profile issue after Australian researchers found more than half of the world's sea turtles have swallowed plastic or other rubbish.

Researchers from the University of Queensland examined threats to six marine turtle species from an estimated 12 million of plastic that enter the world's oceans, finding approximately 52 percent of turtles worldwide have eaten debris, local media reported on Tuesday.

The findings also found the east coasts of Australia and North America, Southeast Asia, southern Africa and Hawaii were particularly dangerous for turtles due to a combination of debris loads and high species diversity.

"Australia and North America are lucky to host a number of turtle species, but we also therefore have a responsibility to look after our endangered wildlife," the University of Queensland researcher Dr Qamar Schuyler said.

The new research echo's similar results published in late August by Australia's scientific body the CSIRO which found more than 60 percent of seabird species had ingested debris.

That research suggested the number is expected to reach 99 percent by the year 2050.

CSIRO research collaborator Dr Chris Willcox said the issue of both seabird and sea turtles ingesting marine debris is a growing issue.

"It is only a matter of time before we see the same problems in other species, and even in the fish we eat," Willcox said.

The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) says large and unquantifiable amounts of plastic enter the oceans from littering, poorly managed landfill, tourist activities and fisheries each year.

This material either sinks to the sea floor, while some can float and travel great distances via marine currents to pollute shorelines or accumulate in mid-ocean gyres.

Conservative estimates suggests plastic debris costs upwards of 13 billion U.S. dollars in financial damage to marine ecosystems per year.

When calculating the negative financial impact of issues to the marine environment or air pollution from incinerating plastic, the U.N. says the overall natural capital cost in the consumer goods sector is 75 billion U.S. dollars.

Marine debris is becoming more and more of a high profile issue, Anthony Talouli, pollution advisor to the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environmental Program (SPREP), told Xinhua on Tuesday.

"We've only just started to scratch the surface of it if you know what I mean," Talouli said.

Talouli said SPREP has commissioned two studies ascertain the extent and origins of marine debris throughout the south pacific, including research into the impact of plastics on fish.

Plastics and other materials entering the marine environment are often mistaken for food and eaten accidentally by the marine wildlife.

Plastics can block the gut, pierce the gut wall and can also cause other problems through the release of toxic chemicals into the marine animal's tissues. Endi