By now most of us are increasingly aware that plastic trash can be harmful to marine life. But we’re only slowly realizing just how harmful it really can be.
In the video below, marine biologists found a plastic drinking straw lodged in a sea turtle’s nostril! They could not legally remove the turtle from the waters of Costa Rica and were too far away from a vet specialist, so they chose to help him themselves.
Photo source: YouTube
Using pliers they pulled the straw from his nasal cavity. They noted that the bleeding stopped almost immediately and they disinfected the air passageway with iodine and kept the turtle for observation before releasing him back into the wild.
Photo source: YouTube
They wrote, “He did very obviously not enjoy the procedure very much, but we hope that he is now able to breath more freely.”
Please remind everyone you know to not litter at the beach (where the tide can sweep the garbage out to see) or when out on the water and share this story with your friends!
A warning to some viewers – there is strong (foul) language and some blood and graphic imagery in the video below.
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