A turtle has a whole plastic bag removed from its throat by staff at a South African aquarium.

Given the name "Bob" the green sea turtle was found washed up to Struisbaai beach near on the country's southern tip.

Staff at the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town noticed the 23kg creature was labouring to breath after it was brought in by a family.

Vets initially suspected the "very weak" turtle was suffering from a lung infection or pneumonia, but an X-ray confirmed there was an obstruction in its oesophagus, the aquarium said in a blog post.

Further tests revealed the cause of blockage, the veterinarians used an endoscope to remove the bag.

They also found that Bob had fragments of balloons and other rubbish lodged in his throat.