Lethal lesions and amputation caused by plastic debris and fishing gear on the loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta (Linnaeus, 1758). Three case reports from Terceira Island, Azores (NE Atlantic)

In this note we report and discuss three cases involving two serious injuries and one death on three specimens of the loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta, found in Terceira Island, Azores (NE Atlantic). Plastic debris and lost/discarded fishing gear caused these accidents. In fact, these types of marine litter are known to cause several accidents all over the world involving many taxa. However, we think that this issue has probably a much wider impact and detected cases such as those reported here are but just a small sample of the whole unknown dimension of this serious marine pollution problem.