Bloody and in pain, when a plastic straw became lodged in the nostril of a turtle, a video showing its removal shook the world – sparking a movement to rid the world of plastic straws.

In 2015, PhD student Christine Figgener was on a small fishing boat off Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast examining an olive ridley turtle – when she noticed something strange coming out of its nostril. Curious, she started filming as one of her research colleagues began to investigate the object. At just over eight minutes long, the video documents the uncomfortable process during which they extract a plastic straw, while blood drips from the turtle’s nose.

As a marine biologist, Figgener’s focus was turtles, not plastics. However, plastic had always been an issue she encountered on the field, having witnessed turtles and other animals stuck in car tires, fishing nets or plastic bags.

“I wasn’t an activist, but we scientists can’t stay in our ivory tower. We see and document things that need to be communicated more broadly. It’s not just about understanding, it’s about getting people to care, and explaining what we can actually do,” says Figgener. “Just looking at tonnes of plastic floating in the ocean can be a bit abstract, it’s not the same as feeling the pain of another creature. It carried the message to non-scientists, showing what the statistics about plastic actually mean.”

The anti-plastic-straw movement caught the world’s attention after Figgener’s video went viral. So, just how bad are single-use straws for the environment? Watch the video below to find out.