A while back I promised more turtle pictures, so here is another photo taken in the Red Sea earlier this year. As you can see, turtles rather like to snack on the occasional jelly fish swimming by. This is as it should be but the problem is that jelly fish look not unlike something else increasingly found in the seas:
One turtle, three plastic bags = recipe for disaster
Evolution unfortunately has not yet equipped turtles (and other animals, especially birds) to deal with the garbage humans produce. As a consequence, countless animals die very slow and painful deaths from ingesting plastic.
The European Parliament and the European Council are currently debating proposed legislation to reduce (or even ban) the use of disposable plastic bags, which would be a start. You can find a petition to support this legislation (and more information) here.
For an inspired take on the issue by some very talented young people in the Shetland Islands, see here. And please, try to do without disposable bags whenever possible — are twenty minutes use (on average) really worth the centuries it will take for these things to degrade?
Walking the cat 
I’m trying. Most of my friends are laughing at me because I always make veggie shopping with only one big bag.
Nice pictures, even better message!
Reblogged this on Mic Smith Geographic.
Thanks for liking my post Seagrass: Bringing turtles and dugongs to the seaway. I really like your photos. Are they yours? Where are you based 🙂
Hi Mic,
Loved your dugong calls! Glad you like the photos — and yes, they’re mine.:) I’m based in Berlin but these were taken in Egypt earlier this year.
My husband and I are thinking about a trip to Australia, maybe next year. We want to go to Spencer Gulf (for the cuttlefish) but your article really made me want to go Moreton Bay. Up to a thousand dugongs?!? We were so thrilled to encounter this one.;) To bad these two sites are so far apart …
Susan
Spencer Gulf looks amazing. Did you read my full article that my post links too. It poses the question that the periodic dugong sightings in the Gold Coast Seaway might be of a resident fugong rather than just a visitor. There is lots of diving at the Seaway that is supposed to be pretty cool. Spencer Gulf looks great too.