To sea turtles, there’s something appetizing about fragrant, ocean-ripened plastic because aged plastic smells just like their food. As it floats around the ocean, plastic develops a specific smell, probably from all of the plants, animals, and microbes that grow on it or get stuck in it. All that gunk and buildup starts making the trash smell more like turtle food, which makes it more of a threat to the turtles because they’re more likely to eat it or get tangled up in it. It also poses more of a threat to the rest of us, because aged plastic is worse for the climate crisis than fresh plastic. As plastic bags are exposed to sunlight, they release greenhouse gases like methane and ethylene, so removing plastic from the oceans quickly is good for both the turtles and our environment.