Turtles dying from eating trash show plastics scourge in UAE

Waves of dead turtles are washing up on the beach in Kalba in the United Arab Emirates

KALBA, United Arab Emirates -- The hawksbill sea turtle lay belly-up on the metal autopsy table, its shell ashen and stomach taut.

A week ago, the adolescent turtle washed up on a beach in Kalba, a city on the east coast of the United Arab Emirates. Once unspoiled, the coast of mangrove trees is now fouled by piles of trash dragged from nearby landfills. Strewn across the shore are plastic bags, packages, bottle caps — and far too often, dead turtles.

At first, Fadi Yaghmour, a marine expert who has examined some 200 turtles for the first research on the subject from the Middle East, extracted typical fare from the carcass — squid beaks and oysters.

Then, a culprit for the creature's demise became clear: shriveled balloons and plastic foam, some of the last things the turtle ate.