Getting them sick: Sea turtles are eating ocean-soaked plastic because it smells like food

NEW YORK -- Sea turtles are mistaking plastic for food and it's getting them sick. A new study published in the journal Current Biology says sea turtles eat ocean- soaked plastic because it smells like food.

Plastic items left in the ocean is said to emit a chemical similar to one produced by phytoplankton -- a common food source for loggerhead turtles.

For the experiment, researchers found the creatures showed more attraction to the ocean- soaked plastic and food then they did to clean plastic or even plain ocean water.

Researchers say this study may help explain why sea turtles often fall victim to ingesting or becoming tangled in plastic debris.