Why Sea Turtles Have Such A Problem With Plastic Bags In the Ocean

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AmyBrown
Sep 6, 2019 3:00 PM EDT

They have a problem with the plastic because of their anti-barfing spikes. Settle in, folks! Here is a short and helpful explanation on the unique structure of a sea turtles esophagus:

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  • 01
    Skin - This is the inside of a sea turtle's mouth You have probably seen this before. It was all over buzzfeed and reddit.
    via @anatomika.science
  • 02
    Pink - The interior of a sea turtle's mouth and esophagus are covered with large backward facing barbs. The thing is, everybody talks about how weird and creepy cool these are, but no one really talks about what they're FOR. O ANATOMIKA science
    via @anatomika.science
  • 03
    Text - They're anti-barfing spikes. The thing is, sea turtles actually swallow a lot of sea water while eating O ANATOMIKA science
    via @anatomika.science
  • 04
    Dolphin - As they eat, their stomach fills up with food and seawater They then vomit up all of the water. The spines trap food and keep it from coming out. It's basically a reverse filter. O ANATOMKA science
    via @anatomika.science
  • 05
    Sea turtle - It looks like this... This guy is not hurt. He is not even sick. In fact this is normal He's throwing up the sea water he drank with his food. It happens to be red becasue he eats red seaweed, so the water is mixed with seaweed puree. O ANATOMIKA science
    via @anatomika.science
  • 06
    Fish - Most underwater animals have ways to deal with the problem of swallowing water while eating. Fish will push the excess water out of their gills, and only swallow food. Sea Turtles swallow water and food. They then expel the water. Spikes in their esophagus keep the food and dump the water. Whales use baleen to separate water and food.
    via @anatomika.science
  • 07
    Line art - THAN You It's unique system that has worked pretty well. ...until now OANATOMIKA science
    via @anatomika.science

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facts turtles ocean animal facts plastic sea turtles animals
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