Poor Turtles Eat Plastic Because It Smells Like Underwater Food

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Plastic is destroying life on the ground as well as underwater. And while many feel turtles consume the plastic either because it looks like food (they love jellyfishes), or unavailability of food, the actual reason is something entirely different.



According to a study published in journal Current Biology, it is the aroma of plastic that fools the poor turtle from consuming it. Apparently, when the plastic gets bioaccumulation on them after being underwater for a considerable amount of time, it releases an odour not very different from food turtles are used to eating.

For this study, they got 15 loggerhead turtles and various airborne odorants, testing their reaction to each. They sent these odours through a pipe underwater, only to see them attracted to the plastic odour.

In another test, through the same pipe they sent food for turtles as well as biofouled plastic (plastic with underwater bioaccumulation). Oddly, turtles reacted in a similar way with both of them.

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