Plastic Halloween witch finger among rubbish found in turtle stomachs | World News [Video]

Turtle stomachs are packed full of plastics floating in the world’s oceans, including part of a child’s Halloween costume.

Researchers found a range of ‘macroplastics’ – pieces larger than 5mm – in the guts of dead sea turtles in the Mediterranean, highlighting the scale of plastic pollution in the oceans.

One had 67 pieces inside it when it was examined by a research team led by the University of Exeter and the North Cyprus Society for the Protection of Turtles (SPOT).

Among the haul of hundreds was a Halloween witch’s finger toy, which experts believe was likely eaten by a turtle that thought it was a crab’s claw.

‘The journey of that Halloween toy – from a child’s costume to the inside of a sea turtle – is a fascinating glimpse into the life cycle of plastic’, according to Dr Emily Duncan, from Exeter’s Centre for Ecology and Conservation.

‘These turtles feed on gelatinous prey such as jellyfish …