"There are many cases of misunderstanding and eating with jellyfish. If transparent plastic goes into the water, you can misunderstand because it looks very similar to jellyfish that swim freely."
Hye-lim Lee / Veterinary

Sea Turtle Story, Animal Care & Ecology Center, National Institute of Ecology .

On the 11th of last month, I headed to the National Marine Biological Resource Center in Seosan, Chungnam. Upon arrival, we went down to the basement of the Restoration Ecology Center. As I went down the stairs, my nose responded first. That smell. The smell, which I could never smell, usually hinted at what was happening in the basement.

Anatomy of a sea turtle, which was found on the coast of Korea this year, was in progress. It was an anatomy to find out why he died. Red sea turtles, blue sea turtles, and long-lived turtles were all endangered species.


It was so hard to see the odor coming through the mask and the uncomfortable appearance for hours. However, the veterinarians who carried out the dissection, the experts gathered at each institution for sample collection, and the video reporter responsible for video recording, all immersed themselves in their work despite uncomfortable stimuli. Then it was discovered. In the organ, vinyl, fishing line, and string were found.


The most discovered was the fishing line.

"The important meaning of the fishing line is that if you have a fishing hook and eat it, then if you get caught in the intestinal wall, the symptoms of perforation of the intestine and perforation of the intestine appear, which can lead to peritonitis and cause direct death."
Hye-lim Lee / Veterinary Veterinary

Affairs Office, National Institute of Ecology, and a lot of vinyl. The types of vinyl found in organs were also varied, and they were found in many organs, from the small intestine to the large intestine.

"Plastic food is mistaken for food or mixed in the food. Especially, young turtles have a small diameter, so if they eat plastic of that size, they will suffer from blockage of the intestine.
Hyelim Lee / National Institute of Ecology Animal Care Ecology Veterinarian


It is said that the garbage usually found in the large intestine was eaten 10 to 15 days before death. So, I was told that what was found in the stomach and intestine is a testament to the prey activity in trash-rich environments. Considering that the state of debentures has not died long ago, it is a story that there are so many marine debris on the coast near our country.

After dissecting three sea turtles for two days, 24 plastic wastes were found in the body of the sea turtle. It weighed about 20 grams.

The National Oceanic and Biological Resources Museum has been analyzing sea turtles found as debris on the coast since 2017. It's a process to uncover the cause of death, but it's always garbage dumped into the sea that you always check for. Of the 51 that have been dissected so far, of the 49 that have been analyzed, 40 to 1,572 plastic waste have been produced, weighing 150g.


Veterinarians who have been doing autopsies since 2017 say that it is difficult to do an autopsy before starting an autopsy. As the sea turtle died, I thought it was the reason to keep telling us what she wanted to tell us, and why she continued to sever sea turtles.

"I found a carcass off the coast of Seocheon, and I did an autopsy for the first time. Unexpectedly, there was a lot of garbage. There are many kinds of it, and it is just a label of bottled water that we usually eat, or a bag of candy. I thought it was not."
Hye-lim Lee / Veterinary Animal Care Veterinary Service, National Institute of Ecology

, That there is a lot of garbage in the sea. Is the garbage in the sea turtle's boat in the sea? I really had to check it out. So I took the plane.

I arrived in Jeju. I feel good looking at the clear and clear Jeju sea. After 10 years, I went into the sea, where I put on an oxygen tank and made me feel good. When I entered, I remembered the story I heard when dissecting the turtle.


"Sea turtles misinterpret vinyl as jellyfish and eat it."

Something was dancing in the sunlight from the surface. It really was. The floating vinyl looked like a jellyfish swimming. Together with reporters Lee Byung-joo and Seo Jin-ho, who were covering underwater, they were forced to make eye contact and nod. I wanted to eat sea turtles.


And there was garbage on the floor. Cigarette butts were the most visible. Next to it was a plastic disposable cup. When I looked around, I saw plastic egg plates by red and white. The ramen soup bag was also intact and in the sea. Vinyl gloves were dancing along the tide.


I went to the deeper sea. It was offshore of Jeju where you can see Jeongbang Falls, a famous tourist spot. It was pretty. The water was also very clear. I also saw a lot of fish. The seaweed you see in the sea was like a dancing dancer. When the fish swarm passed by, they wowed and became elastic. However, there was plastic waste in the gap.


Fishing lines thrown away by anglers, plastic wrappers for fishing supplies, plastic containers and lids are scattered on the floor. I also saw a plastic bottle. And I thought it was really a rock. But when I got close, it was a plastic bottle. If it had been in the rocks for a long time without rot, it seemed like a rock with lots of seaweed. Fish didn't even know it was plastic waste, so they went around naturally. I thought sea urchins were really rock, and they settled down.


It was the same with beating. I had a feeding activity while walking leisurely on the lid of a plastic container. The beatings are likely to be exposed to microplastics, and we are also likely to eat them. Then, the plastic we discarded may accumulate again in our body. Experts explained that the possibility of this link cannot be ruled out.


These plastic wastes accumulate in the ocean through two main routes. One is to throw it away near the coast. Fishing line, fishing goods wrapping paper, lunch box, etc. are typical. By the way, the egg board is a garbage that is difficult to throw away from the shore. This kind of waste is the waste that was thrown away from the land and washed down by rainwater, etc., to the sea. I saw in the sea that the garbage I just dumped could flow and go to the sea.


The story of the sea turtle dying was one.

"There's a lot of garbage in the sea"


All the trash is ours. It's too obvious. We see it again and check it out and tell you this again. No matter how much you talk, plastic waste in the sea does not disappear. Then someone is bored, and even if you know, you have no choice but to keep talking. Because marine life, human beings are affected. And because it's a huge burden for all of our children and our descendants. There are two ways. The first method is not to use the plastic that does not rot and cause the biggest problem. However, nothing is plastic. So it's best to throw it away properly and recycle it again. To reduce the amount of waste, increasing the recycling rate is the best thing we can do now.

You can check the story of how to increase the rate of financial situation through the reporter Son Hyeong-an's report file.