Image of the Day: Mother turtle nesting amid trash on Christmas Island

Desdemona Despair

By Aleksandra Pajda
4 January 2018

(One Green Planet) – On Greta Beach, Christmas Island, a staggering sight was caught by an environmental scholar and shared by PTS Our Island. A mother turtle who returned to her place of birth to lay eggs found herself amongst a sea of garbage. Surrounded by the plastic trash and other items discarded by the human visitors of the beach, the animal had no chance of making a nest and laying eggs the way it should naturally happen for the species. Instead, she had to leave her eggs on a trash heap.

Once the baby turtles hatched, they were welcomed by the exact same landscape and had to struggle desperately to make it out to the ocean. These animals deserve better.

It is estimated that around 270,000 tons of plastic are now floating on the surface of the ocean. This overwhelming amount of pollution currently threatens 700 different marine species with extinction – and that number will only continue to grow over the years unless we ALL act!

To find out how to help the planet by cutting down on plastic, check out One Green Planet’s #CrushPlastic campaign!

Mother Turtle Forced to Nest on a Pile of Trash Highlights the Issue With Disposable Plastics