Twenty-four of 40 (60%) loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta post-hatchlings (carapace b 9 cm) that died within
2 months of stranding on southern Cape beaches in April 2015 contained ingested anthropogenic debris. Plastic
comprised of 99% of debris: 77% hard plastic fragments, 10% flexible packaging and 8% fibres; industrial pellets
comprised only 3%, compared to ~70% in 1968–1973, when 12% of stranded post-hatchlings contained plastics.
Turtles selected forwhite (38%) and blue (19%) items, but translucent items (23%)were under-represented compared
to beach mesodebris. Ingested loads did not decrease up to 52 days in captivity, indicating long retention
times. Plastic killed 11 turtles by blocking their digestive tracts or bladders, and contributed to the deaths of five
other turtles. Our results indicate that the amount and diversity of plastic ingested by post-hatchling loggerhead
turtles off South Africa have increased over the last four decades, and now kill some turtles.