Marine Debris and Human Impacts on Sea Turtles in Southern Brazil

Dead stranded sea turtles were recovered and examined to determine the impact of anthropogenic debris and fishery activities on sea turtles on the coast of Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil. Esophagus/stomach contents of 38 juvenile green Chelonia mydas, 10 adults and sub-adults loggerhead Caretta car...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine pollution bulletin 2001-12, Vol.42 (12), p.1330-1334
Main Authors: Bugoni, Leandro, Krause, Lı́gia, Virgı́nia Petry, Maria
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Animals
Applied ecology
Biological and medical sciences
Brazil
Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul
Caretta caretta
Cause of Death
Chelonia mydas
Cheloniidae
Conservation of Natural Resources
Dermochelys coriacea
Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution
Effects of pollution and side effects of pesticides on vertebrates
Fisheries - instrumentation
Fisheries - methods
fishing interaction
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humans
Marine
plastic debris
Plastics - adverse effects
Reptilia. Amphibia
sea turtle
Turtles - physiology
Water Pollutants - administration & dosage
Water Pollutants - adverse effects
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Summary:Dead stranded sea turtles were recovered and examined to determine the impact of anthropogenic debris and fishery activities on sea turtles on the coast of Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil. Esophagus/stomach contents of 38 juvenile green Chelonia mydas, 10 adults and sub-adults loggerhead Caretta caretta, and two leatherback Dermochelys coriacea turtles (adult or sub-adult) included plastic bags as the main debris ingested, predominated by white and colorless pieces. The ingestion of anthropogenic debris accounted for the death of 13.2% of the green turtles examined. Signs of damage over the body and carapace indicated that fishing activities caused the death of 13.6% (3/22) of loggerheads and 1.5% (1/56) of green turtles. Therefore, it appears that direct and indirect effects of fishing activities may pose a threat to these species in Brazilian waters. Other sources of plastic debris should be investigated as well as the direct impact of fisheries, especially bottom trawl and gill nets, in order to establish effective conservation action.
ISSN:0025-326X
1879-3363
DOI:10.1016/S0025-326X(01)00147-3