What was claimed
A turtle was deformed because of plastic waste in the water.
Our verdict
True - a plastic ring became lodged around the animal, and the turtle grew around the ring.
A turtle was deformed by a plastic ring in the water
5 July 2019
An image showing a turtle apparently deformed due to plastic waste in the ocean has been shared hundreds of times on Facebook and across the internet.
The picture is of Mae West, a snapping turtle currently living at the Star Eco Station, a wildlife rescue facility, in California. According to the rescue facility, the turtle was found decades ago in a drainage canal in Louisiana with a plastic milk ring stuck around her shell. Her body adapted and grew into an hourglass shape. The viral photo was taken soon after she was found.
The turtle apparently became trapped in the ring when it was younger and grew around it.
It is unclear if the deformity is due to ocean waste or waste from elsewhere—snapping turtles are primarily freshwater animals and tend to inhabit areas like “rivers, lakes and reservoirs to marshes, temporary ponds, hill streams and tidal creeks”.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as true as the turtle shown was misshapen by plastic in the water.