The AFU and Urban Legend Archive
Animals
 litter kills




From: jeni.grantREM@VErmta.org (Jeni Grant)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Balloons and Sea Turtles?
Date: 2 Jul 1999 05:54:43 GMT

>From the AFU FAQ:

"U. Litter from released balloons choke and kill whales, birds, etc."

While I can't say if it's true for other types of animals, I do know from first-hand experience that litter from released helium balloons (among other type of plastic debris) poses a serious problem for sea turtles. These balloons, if found floating in the ocean, appear to be jellyfish to a sea turtle (jellyfish compose a majority of some sea turtles' diet). The turtle swallows the balloon, and it is sometimes caught in one tract or another. The turtle then subsequently dies (usually by lack of oxygen or food).

http://www.thewildones.org/Scientists/jerris.html (ancedotial)

http://cccturtle.org/threats.htm#threat

Lucas, Z. "Monitoring persistent litter in the marine environment on Sable Island, Nova Scotia" Marine Pollution Bulletin v. 24, no. 4 (1992): 192-199

Smith, M. Venizelos, L. E. "The impact of 'small garbage' on the marine environment with emphasis on the Mediterranean marine turtle population" Testudo - The Journal of the British Chelonia Group v. 4, no. 4 (1997): 41-48

-jeni-


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