Another loggerhead turtle was collected this week by Archipelagos’ researchers. When she was located she was trapped among thousands of small and large fragments of plastic debris. She seemed very weak, having looked like she hadn’t eaten for an extended period of time. The team even had to remove pieces of plastic from her mouth.

Despite the teams’ effort to rescue her, she sadly died. She is just one of many animals that die due to the debris in our seas, and unfortunately won’t be the last one!

Due to insufficient waste management in Greece, this problem worsens every year. The uncontrolled waste ends up in our streams due to the wind and rain, which then ends up in the sea.

We must emphasize that every bit of plastic that ends up in our environment can become very hazardous, and could end up killing our precious wildlife. Furthermore, any ordinary product made out of plastic; whether a small plastic bottle or plastic shopping bags, will break down within a few weeks (not in years as we once believed), and can end up within the stomachs of marine animals. This has been proven by the Archipelagos research team, who proved that a 100% of the fish samples that were collected and analyzed, from various parts of Greek Seas, contained a big amount of micro plastic fibers inside the stomachs.

We all play a role in keeping our seas clean, therefore we must all be considerate of how we dispose of our plastic, because for every plastic bottle you buy, another turtle could die!