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Six Pack Plastic Deforms a Turtle

kutv.com — This turtle spent the beginning of it's life stuck inside one of those plastic 6 pack tops. The video shows how the turtle grew everywhere else except it's midsection. Don't forget to cut those plastic rings.

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  • HeaDiggrNCharge, on 10/12/2007, -3/+64Where's Splinter when you really need him?
    • thenativeraver, on 10/12/2007, -5/+37He was fighting off master shredder.
    • flatline01, on 10/12/2007, -36/+0nice
    • VSKBadCRC, on 10/12/2007, -64/+5Doesn't this prove evolution really does exist?

      I wonder if you remove the plastic ring if he'll take a deep breath and pop back to his original shape?
    • troon, on 10/12/2007, -2/+26@VSKBadCRC

      What? I don't think evolution is what you think it is.
    • VSKBadCRC, on 10/12/2007, -35/+5"What? I don't think evolution is what you think it is."

      He survived, didn't he? His body was hindered by something, and it compensated by... I don't know, turning some kind of half-shelled turtle. This "turtle in a half-shell", if you will, survived the 6-pack ring, therefor he adapted, his body evolved to live in his environment; hense, he evolved.
    • shikaga, on 10/12/2007, -1/+30Yes, but the turtle wont pass that trait on to it's off spring, therefore it is not evolution, just adaption to suit it's surroundings.
    • ViceVirtue, on 10/12/2007, -0/+20No, he didn't evolve, he didn't do anything special... just grew, like trees which grow around and encompass fence posts (I'm an Aussie). In the same way as you can bend trees as they grow to shape them, you can do the likewise with more concious living beings.
    • Murdats, on 10/12/2007, -8/+8but if you get a tree to grow bendy, its offspring wont be bendy and you wont have masterfully created the bendy tree
    • smellinator, on 10/12/2007, -18/+10I think it's interesting that they don't say whether this really happened in the wild, or if it was a lab turtle.

      This may have been a lab turtle, turning the activists into turtle torturers - all so that they could make a point about something that may rarely happen in the wild. Really makes you wonder who the bad guys are!

      (not making any accusations, but a simple comment in the video that the turtle was found in the wild this way would clear up any questions!)
    • ninjapirate350, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10@VSKBadCRC

      You've got the wrong definition of evolution, my friend.

      What you are thinking of is adaptation, the turtle has adapted to live with a 6 pack holder around his body.

      Now, it would be evolution if the turtle had babies that were deformed the same way as him.

      Evolution requires a genetic change in offspring. For example, if every human started cutting off one of his hands in favor of replacing it with a mechanical hand, then evolution theory states that eventually evolution will cause the body of future generations to stop making a hand and stop the arm at the end of the wrist, it might take hundreds of years to happen, but that's how it works.
    • noodhoog, on 10/12/2007, -2/+15Ninjapirate350 - you also, to some degree, have the wrong idea about evolution. What you are talking about is Lamarckism (the passing on of acquired traits, such as the loss of the hand you describe) which, while it does happen, is only a very small and specialised subset of the evolutionary mechanism. Just cutting off your hand, no matter how many generations did it repeatedly, would not cause genetic change. A "no hand" gene might eventually emerge by unrelated chance, and as people no longer cared about having that hand, would be allowed to continue.. but it would not have been caused by people removing their hands.

      I'm not sure whether you already know this, and I'm just misinterpreting you, as you already made the point about it needing to be genetic, but for anyone who needs it, here's a brief rundown of evolution:

      Evolution really consists of two systems.
      The first is change - mutation being the most well known, but certainly not the only form of change. These changes are genetic, occur between generations (a new born baby has these changes), and can be good, bad, or indifferent.

      The second mechanism is the 'filtering' of these changes. There is nothing intelligent or deliberate going on here, it is merely that if your particular set of changes make it easier for you to pass on your genes (and therefore those changes) by having offspring, then your genes will prosper.

      Consider a species of animals living in a very cold climate. They have a moderately thick fur coat, and their survival rate is fairly low because they have to eat a lot of food to keep warm, and hunting is difficult for them.

      If one day a pup is born with very thin, or almost no fur, then it probably won't survive long enough to have offspring itself, so that genetic line - the "thin fur" line, doesn't really go anywhere. It's a dead end.

      If on the other hand, one day a pup is born with genes for thicker fur (and remember, this is purely by chance, it's not happening "because they are in a cold climate"), then it will have an advantage over the others. It will retain its body heat better, and need to spend less time hunting, be at less risk of starvation, and have more time to seek out partners to mate with. Result: It has tons of offspring, and most, if not all, of those have the 'thick fur' gene. They then have similar success, and before you know it, the thick furs are the most common type of this species.

      On the other hand, if the same happend in a race of animals where fur thickness didn't make any difference to their survival chances at all, then you would find some with thick fur, some with thin, etc, as they'd all have the same chances of passing on their genes.

      To sum up, then... it's really about two things.
      Firstly a random change occurs
      If that change is beneficial it tends to survive and prosper, otherwise it gets weeded out.
    • theantidote, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1I was about to say what noodog said, only not as intelligently. Here's basically what I was gonna say:
      This isn't evolution nor adaptation, it's just a mutation. Mutations are instant changes to a few animals in a species, and if these mutations allow these animals to live better they will ultimately survive and spark an evolution which takes hundreds (maybe thousands) of years to complete. It's survival of the fittest and if the mutated ones are best fit for the environment they will survive.
    • tyho, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2What does this have to do with tech? No digg dammit.

      Why does an obvious joke by VSKBadCRC prompt people to explain "real" evolution.
      Are you people that frikin' bored?
    • skankyBacon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Simply, Evolution takes place between generations, as those with more positive traits produce more offspring who are more likely to inherit those traits, and those without those traits produce fewer offspring. Things don't "evolve" during their lifetimes.

      For example, in traditional Chinese culture beginning in the Song dynasty, small feet were admired on women, so girls would often have their feet bound, and as a result, their feet would remain small. The severe pain was an acceptable cost, apparently. Though this practice died out, we basically do the same thing today, with girls developing eating disorders and getting surgery in order to look more like society's "ideal woman." Anyway, this isn't evolution, as binding the feet didn't change their genetic structure, so their children wouldn't be affected (significantly).
  • Sell, on 10/12/2007, -5/+25That's pretty sad, especially when you see the way he walks. Who uses those 6 pack things anymore these days? ECOSINNERS!!!!
    • daza, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7Sad indeed. How cute is this little fella.

      Unrelated, but I plan to buy myself a turtle soon :-)
    • MrUnderbridge, on 10/12/2007, -11/+1More to the point, what kind of half-ass only buys a six-pack? What, you didn't think you just might have a need to use the rest of the twelve-pack (or case!) later? Don't you have any friends to share it with? Do you have no alcohol tolerance to speak of?
    • Hubris, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Many 24 and 48 pack flats and boxes of cans often are bundled with tabs around every 6 cans.
    • geoboy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5"Who uses those 6 pack things anymore these days?"

      They're still used, but not nearly as much as they used to be. Also, if you paid closer attention to the video, you'd have heard that they said the turtle is over 20 years old, so she probably got caught in that thing sometime in the late 1980's.
  • PAStheLoD, on 10/12/2007, -30/+36 beers is nothing, so buy at least 24, that's being wrapped in a big plastic bag.
    • IIII, on 10/12/2007, -2/+20Which, when it goes floating out to sea, will be scooped up and promptly choked on by a pelican.
    • scheper, on 10/12/2007, -2/+23"Those plastic bags actually degrade in sunlight."

      I kept wondering why my bags just disappeared into thin air as I walked home.
    • jrbrewin, on 10/12/2007, -3/+13walk home at night instead
  • stoops, on 10/12/2007, -11/+13Poor turtle!
    Anyways I digg it so the word can get out.
  • zeldafan, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10So sad, hopefully she'll grow out (at least a some) now that the rings are gone.

    And yes, the turtle is a she, I watched the video.
  • TheReport, on 10/12/2007, -4/+16I wish those six pack rings could wrap around some of my friends egos
  • INHUMANITY, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7That really is sad. I've never seen an image of an animal actually affected by those things. Trippy!
  • jordanrobbins, on 10/12/2007, -42/+12Wow!
    No one has blamed George Bush yet?!
    • bennyboy371, on 10/12/2007, -24/+36I'm tired of hearing about him for today.

      George Bush is a ***** *****.

      There, I said it. Its established. Now can we move on for a 24 hour period?
    • Shinryu, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2@jordanrobbins: Shut the ***** up, you stupid *****. He's as big a ***** as you are.
  • bennyboy371, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5I never really put much stock into this whole thing honestly, but I knew there had been cases of it happening, and even if me cutting the plastics ended up not helping, at least I tried.
    • shikaga, on 10/12/2007, -2/+15Perhaps instead of cutting them they just shouldn't be thrown into the sea
  • trakais, on 10/12/2007, -26/+1Put BUSH in a sixpack! Damn government, what were they thinking! (now bush has been blamed)
  • FatPat, on 10/12/2007, -10/+20Sad.

    The beverage companies need to put six-packs in particle board like they do with twelve-packs and cases. It ain't rocket science.

    Who the hell else buys these things anyway, besides rednecks on their way to the car wash?
    • synd, on 10/12/2007, -15/+9So 'civilized' people don't wash their cars? What a terrible stereotype.
    • timmarhy, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9i believe he's reffering to the sterotype of people in the south all having ***** jobs and having to pump gas and work at a car wash for a living.

      he should also note, that americans in the northern states also have a reputating for being stupid assholes. seems he kind of backs that up with comments like that
    • demondog, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5No I think he's talking about the stereotype of rednecks hanging out at the carwash and drinking on weekend nights.
  • birkoph, on 10/12/2007, -24/+0can't play video just says pause and nothing happens.

    Someone convert to mpeg, upload and paste link. chop chop
  • magicjj, on 10/12/2007, -11/+2How often does that happen again?
    • schleufer, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13This turtle just happened to be a freak accident. Usually the animal ends of strangling itself, or getting the rings caught in something so that it starves to death, becomes easy prey, dehydrates or drowns. Regardless how often it occurs, these can be avoided if people just use their brain.
    • kohan69, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Very rarely, most of them die, this one, you may call, extremely lucky
    • Mac2492, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8It doesn't matter often it happens. The fact is that it doesn't need to happen at all! It's not hard to recycle/throw away your trash.
  • quoquo, on 10/12/2007, -10/+5cutting plastic rings?
    just don't buy that crap or make sixpacks with carton.
  • dielawn, on 10/12/2007, -11/+2i was gonna saw something bad about this, but after seeing the picture, i do feel bad for it.
    • synd, on 10/12/2007, -5/+12I feel bad for your lack of typing skills.
    • Wiggles2, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4wtf kind of lame insult is that? Are diggsters this petty now, that they take cheap jabs at someone who makes a typo? And why the F does it get modded up?
  • rm999, on 10/12/2007, -6/+38Guy: "So what're you gonna do with those plastic rings"
    Fat kid: "ummmmmmmm"
    (Guy does cutting motion)
    Fat kid "ummmmmmmm"
    Fat kid's little brother: "cut them!"

    I hate stupid fat kids...
  • commandar!, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Crazy. I was just thinking today about how when I was a kid they were telling us to cut these things up so ducks wouldn't get caught in them. It also occurred to me how, years later, it seems like I was the only one still doing it. Good to know I haven't been crazy all these years after all.
  • nthpro, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8Maybe if we put the fat kids in a giant 6 pack ring they would grow up to be skinny....hummmm. I have much to ponder.
  • AlexApetrei, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7This is exactly why i buy bottled beer, it tastes better and it dosent make turtles look like the women on the streets of Kent.
    • Stonekeeper, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1Crap. I wish you can delete posts you put in the wrong place
  • hughps, on 10/12/2007, -27/+2HAHAHA, look at that turtle!
    • davdav, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8Not cool.
    • varish, on 10/12/2007, -7/+0are u a retard? imagin urself like that :/
    • hughps, on 10/12/2007, -6/+0Sorry, but my shell would never get caught like that. It's always been far too large.
  • RegisteredUser, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7This is really sad. I wonder if manufacturers ever plan on making 6-pack rings with corn-based biodegradable plastics instead?

    http://www.digg.com/science/Video_of_Biodegradable_Plastic_Water_Bottle_Decomposing
    • ohcanada, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4This is true...or come up with something else. I'm mean with today's technology, we should be able to come up with something that is reasonable for business to use and for nature.
    • shikaga, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Oh, it is possible. But it is a little more expensive. Companies go for whatever is cheapest and easiest to maximise profit, no matter who it hurts.
    • Merlyn383, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1@RegisteredUser, until we (the US) have an administration that actually cares about the environment and is willing to do hold major corporation accountable for their actions, that will never happen.
  • timmarhy, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6mr burns sweeping the sea clean with nets made of 6 pack rings
  • sketchstudios, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8people suck
    • cathode, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1And yet no one sheds a tear for the millions of humans killed every year before they're even born.
  • Cookieman123, on 10/12/2007, -7/+5I do think people should be a little more considerate when it comes to pollution, but...it's a turtle...life goes on.
    • shikaga, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11Who said it didn't? It just seems really cruel that this animal had to suffer from Mankind's thoughtlessness.
  • infra172, on 10/12/2007, -20/+5I hate turtles. They get what they deserve.
  • eclectro, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Buy pop in boxes or two liters. These plastic rings get caught up with a whole lot of animals, not just turtles.
  • Haroldx, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2hughps, you are one sick person.
  • cinder, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4I remember the Futurama episode where they are all on a giant collection of trash, and Fry starts digging in a pile and emerges with one of those plastic rings around his neck and begins choking. Here's a picture of it: http://tinyurl.com/p9v6q
    • Hypodrive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+4Looks like you FAILED.
    • AgentConundrum, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3It's not entirely his fault. I mean, are we all supposed to create mock-up HTML files for *every* image we link to, to ensure that our referrer header won't get bitch slapped by the server?
      Seems like a lot to ask, doesn't it?
  • herbstwerk, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3i'm pretty glad you can't even buy 6 packs with this deathtrap here anymore... they are either packed in plastic foil or paper.
    • Merlyn383, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2And where exactly is "here"? I know that you can buy them in the US.
    • herbstwerk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1here would be austria (and/or germany)
  • VSKBadCRC, on 10/12/2007, -12/+1Bury.
  • riboyster, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3That's Disturbing.
  • dojobi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12I'm surprised the rings aren't banned in the US yet. We banned them years ago in Australia.

    There are so many alternatives around that there really is no excuse to continue using them.
    • bradleyland, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I thought they had banned them here in the US. There was a lot of awareness generated about them back in the middle eighties. I seem to recall some programs promoting cutting the rings, or avoiding the purchase of products that used them. Then they introduced rings with tabs that allowed you to tear the rings to remove the soda. For a while, I didn't see a lot of product with the rings, but they seem to be making a comback.
  • zoltanthebold, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1Why don't we just insist on huge, 3 gallon beer cans. The plastic thing would be so big even whales wouldn't have much difficulty if they find themselves snagged.

    Problem solved.
  • CyberFatman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I tend to agree with dojobi (no surprises as I also come from Australia). The problem is simple, whilst everyone might have the best intentions - which is a best case scenario - at the end of the day it happens because they exist.

    Better to not have the problem in the first place - get rid of them!
  • Zippo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2They still make those things plastic rings? I haven't seen one in *years*
  • zerblat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Bonsai turtles! (Sorry, someone had to say it).

    Anyway, awful stuff. Hopefully this will at least help get rid of those six pack rings (around here, six packs are packed in plastic foil) or at least make them biodegradable.

    Still, pretty amazing that the little fellow managed to survive.
  • Alchemeron, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1So what's the downside to litter, again? All this photo proves is that nature can adapt.
    • noodhoog, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Nature would also adapt if you poked your eyes out.
      It wouldn't kill you, you'd still survive... so why not go ahead?
      or does it suddenly seem a bit less desirable when put that way?
  • mark1372, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3OK, this body-mod trend has gone too far!
  • Rinkin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3That's really sad. I own a pet turtle and I couldn't ever imagine having a turtle like that or even a turtle ever existing like that.
  • levyjl1988, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5OMG I feel sorry for that turtle, DUGG! Save the enviroment!
  • honkyman5000, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7The planet will be here for a long, long, LONG time after we're gone, and it will heal itself, it will cleanse itself, 'cause that's what it does. It's a self-correcting system. The air and the water will recover, the earth will be renewed, and if it's true that plastic is not degradable, well, the planet will simply incorporate plastic into a new pardigm: the earth plus plastic. The earth doesn't share our prejudice towards plastic. Plastic came out of the earth. The earth probably sees plastic as just another one of its children. Could be the only reason the earth allowed us to be spawned from it in the first place. It wanted plastic for itself. Didn't know how to make it. Needed us. Could be the answer to our age-old egocentric philosophical question, "Why are we here?" Plastic...*****.

    So, the plastic is here, our job is done, we can be phased out now.

    -- George Carlin
    • Merlyn383, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I love Carlin. And, to a point, I agree with what he said there (mainly the first and last parts). The Earth is trying to cleanse itself, and it's doing it by trying to phase use out.
  • ciphex, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1Yeah. turtles are awesome.. i have a couple myself... in a tank on my desk.

    but when i watched this... i could swear i heard the worlds saddest violin playing in the background.
    any idea how much time humanity would collectively waste each year cutting all of their plastic rings?
    a lot. time that could be well spent playing halo2.

    • djhash, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1here.. let me play you a sad song from the worlds smallest violin. [puts finger on thumbs and starts playing]
    • cryptess, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0And how long would it take for us to choose drink options without the plastic rings?
  • Gneisbaard, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1If alcohol had been banned, this probably wouldn't have happened.
  • ninjapirate350, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Turtle Girdle!
  • PayneX, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Where's Captain Planet when you need him. :(
  • Splitt3rxx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1thats a cool turtle.
  • brhad56, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"(not making any accusations, but a simple comment in the video that the turtle was found in the wild this way would clear up any questions!)"

    They said she crawled in it. Survived predators. Lucky she didn't drown. Doesn't sound like a lab environment to me.
  • MarginOfError, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I sense a designer pet turtle fad approaching.
  • chrislhardin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2This is why I never litter.
  • molsen311, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1that's some sad sh**. EVERY time i'm at the beach, I leave with a huge bag of plastic trash and cans.... tsk tsk, world
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