Plastic straw removed from turtle's nose by marine biologists in heartbreaking video

A group of marine biologists in Costa Rica were horrified to discover an endangered sea turtle with a 10-12 cm plastic straw lodged in its nostril.

Ms Figgener and her companions were on an in-water research trip in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, when they found a male Olive Ridley sea turtle (a type of green sea turtle) with what at first they thought was a parasitic worm burrowing into its nose.

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The most recent study estimated that green sea turtles are 50 per cent more likely to ingest some form of plastic than they were thirty years ago. They often end mistake items like plastic bags and straws for food, which can lead to blockages, infections and death.