PLASTIC
PREDATOR
APRIL 2019 • NAT GEO KIDS (^19)
MAKE PLASTIC-FREE PARTY DECORATIONS!
natgeokids.com/KidsVsPlastic
PACIFIC
OCEAN
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
INDIAN
OCEAN
PACIFIC
OCEAN
SOUTH
AMERICA
ASIA
AUSTRALIA
AFRICA
ANTARCTICA
NORTH
AMERICA EUROPE
LARVACEAN
FOOD PARTICLES
TRAPPED IN
MUCUS HOUSE
MUCUS
HOUSE
A recent
study found that
over half of all sea
turtles have eaten
plastic in their
lifetime.
It would take
six 10-year-olds to
weigh as much as an
average-size green
sea turtle.
During
one three-hour
cleanup on a beach in
Virginia, volunteers
collected over 900
balloons.
The ocean is full of trillions of pieces
of trash called microplastics that are
smaller than the period at the end of this
sentence—which makes them really hard
to clean up. But the solution might be in
tadpole-like creatures called larvaceans
(lar-VAY-shuns). These marine animals eat
by filtering tiny food particles out of the
water and through their bodies. The par-
ticles are first trapped in what’s called a
mucus house—a thin, see-through
bubble of, well, mucus, that surrounds
the larvacean as it travels. Scientists are
studying this behavior to see if a similar
process could pull harmful microplastics
after aquarium staff have out of the water.
successfully introduced solid
food back into Chex’s diet,
rescuers declare the turtle is
ready to return to the sea.
Bell stands hip deep in the
waves as another staff mem-
ber hands Chex to her. She
carefully places the little
turtle in the water and
watches it paddle away. “Chex
was like, ‘Oh, there’s the
ocean! OK, bye!’” Bell says.
Chex’s rescue is worth cele-
brating ... but maybe without
the party balloons.
GREEN SEA TURTLE
Redington Beach, Florida
POLLUTION
SOLUTION
Seagrass