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Marine Turtle Newsletter 43:2-3, © 1988

Death of a Giant

Karen L. Eckert¹ and Chris Luginbuhl^2
1Department of Zoology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia USA 30602
²P.O. Box 263, Ellington, Connecticut USA 06029

On 23 September 1988, the largest leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) ever recorded was found dead on Harlech beach in Gwynedd, Wales. The animal, an adult male weighing 2016 pounds (916 kg), boasted a curved carapace length of 101 inches (256.5 cm); plastral length and width were 53 inches (134.6 cm) and 32 inches (81.3 cm), respectively. Foreflipper span, measured ventrally from flipper tip to flipper tip, was 94.75 inches (240.7 cm). An autopsy team, led by Peter Morgan (Keeper of Zoology, National Museum of Wales), reported the cause of death to be drowning. A tightly compacted piece of plastic (15 x 25 cm) blocked the entrance to the small intestine and could have contributed to the death. Dr. John Davenport (University College of North Wales, Bangor) collected tissue samples during the autopsy in order to assess the presence of PCBs and heavy metals; he also hopes to explore aging techniques using humeral sections. Dr. Harford Williams (Director, Open University of Wales) is examining the gut and other tissues for parasites.

While the ingestion of plastic may or may not have contributed directly to the death of this animal, the ingestion of plastics by marine turtles is an increasingly lethal problem (Balazs, 1985; Carr, 1987; Fritts, 1982; Gramentz, 1988; Laist, 1987). The amount of waste (including plastics) discharged into the oceans annually has reached astounding levels. The National Academy of Sciences estimated, over a decade ago, that oceangoing vessels discarded 14 billion pounds of cargo and crew wastes (including plastics) every year. According to an educational brochure designed to highlight the problem (developed by the Center for Environmental Education, the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service, and The Society of the Plastics Industry), merchant ships generate almost 90% of all wastes found in the world's oceans. Every day the world's fleet tosses 5.5 million containers into the sea. The death toll rings for sea birds, sea turtles, seals ... even the great whales.

The recent death of the leatherback stranded in Wales received comprehensive media attention, both in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. Chris Luginbuhl, Director of the David E. Luginbuhl Research Institute for Endangered Species, has designed, in cooperation with Jim Hubbard (Academy-Award winning cinematographer), several public service announcements focusing on the problems generated by the discharge of plastics at sea. Readers interested in obtaining these announcements for local broadcast are encouraged to contact Chris (address below).

Readers interested in further details on the autopsy and/or subsequent findings, please contact: Peter Morgan, National Museum of Wales, Cathays Park, Cardiff, CF1 3NP Wales, United Kingdom.

The turtle is currently undergoing preparation for permanent display at the National Museum of Wales.

Balazs, G. H. 1985. Impact of ocean debris on marine turtles: entanglement and ingestion. In: R. S. Shomura and H. O. Yoshida (eds), Proc. Workshop on the Fate and Impact of Marine Debris, 26-29 November 1984, Honolulu, Hawaii. NOAA Tech. Memo. NOAA-TM-NMFS-SWFC-54. pp.387-429.

Carr, A. 1987. Impact of nondegradable marine debris on the ecology and survival outlook of sea turtles. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 18 (6 Part B):352-356.

Fritts, T. 1982. Plastic bags in the intestinal tracks of leatherback marine turtles. Herp. Rev. 13:72-73.

Gramentz, D. 1988. Involvement of loggerhead turtle with the plastic, metal, and hydrocarbon pollution in the central Mediterranean. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 19(1):11-13.

Laist, D. W. 1987. Overview of the biological effects of lost and discarded plastic debris in the marine environment. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 18 (6 Part B):319-326.