Marine debris ingestion of green sea turtles, Chelonia mydas, (Linnaeus, 1758) from the eastern coast of the United Arab Emirates.
The deleterious effects of marine debris ingestion on marine turtles are well documented in literature globally. In this study, the qualitative and quantitative aspects of marine debris ingested by 14 stranded green sea turtles Chelonia mydas, (Linnaeus, 1758) along the eastern coast of the United Arab Emirates were investigated. The numeric and gravimetric proportions of debris in the esophagus, stomach and intestines were documented following classification of color, presumed sources and Marine Strategy Framework Directive categories and sub-categories. The results show that 85.7% of the specimens examined consumed marine debris. On average, specimens consumed 61.9 ± 17.2 items of 1.0 ± 0.3 g mass. Plastics, particularly white, and transparent thread-like and sheet-like plastics, were the predominant debris ingested. The results reflect a potentially high level of interaction between green sea turtles and anthropogenic marine debris along the Gulf of Oman coast of the UAE.
['Yaghmour|Fadi|F|', 'Al Bousi|Marwa|M|', 'Whittington-Jones|Brendan|B|', 'Pereira|John|J|', 'García-Nuñez|Soledad|S|', 'Budd|Jane|J|']
D000818:Animals D054750:Ecotoxicology D004781:Environmental Exposure D005766:Gastrointestinal Contents D010969:Plastics D012623:Seawater D014426:Turtles D014479:United Arab Emirates D014866:Waste Products D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
Marine debris Turtles Chelonia mydas United Arab Emirates Plastics Gulf of Oman