TOXIC TRAIL
Dead whale washes up with SIX STONE of plastic bags in its stomach in latest shocking death highlighting world’s plastic waste crisis
Marine biologists said it was the most plastic they'd ever seen in a single whale
A WHALE that washed up on the shore of the Philippines had swallowed over six stone of plastic, its autopsy reveals.
The Cuvier's beaked whale was spotted barely alive by locals near the shore of Compostela Valley on Saturday at around 5am - and it died shortly after of "gastric shock".
14
14
14
Environmental officials in Davao City in the Philippine island of Mindanao had the gruesome task of establishing the cause of the male whale's death by opening up its stomach.
Recovered from inside the beaked whale were 16 rice sacks, four plastic bags used in banana plantations, multiple shopping bags, and hundreds of other small pieces of plastic packaging - the total weighing over six stone.
Staff from the Philippine's Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Fishery Management Regulatory Division performed a necropsy on the whale to find out the cause of death led by Dr Elaine Belvis and American marine biologist Darrell Blatchley who owns D'Bone Collector Museum.
On their Facebook page they wrote it was "the most plastic we have ever seen in a whale. It's disgusting".
Finding the whale like this was tragic. It's so sad to see the effect humans are having on sea life
Darrell Blatchley
They posted grim images of huge sheets of plastic being pulled from the whale's stomach and called for action to be taken by the government "against those two continue to treat the waterways and ocean as dumpsters."
The huge amount of plastic ingested by just one whale highlights the scale of the world's plastic waste crisis.
Darrell said: ''Finding the whale like this was tragic. It's so sad to see the effect humans are having on sea life."
He added workers would continue sifting through the whale's guts to identify the plastic which had clogged its stomach.
In the last 10 years Darrell said his team has found 57 whales and dolphins which have died as a result of rubbish and plastic in their stomachs.
MOST READ IN WORLD NEWS
A 2017 report by Ocean Conservancy revealed China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam have been dumping more plastic into the ocean than the rest of the world combined.
In June last year a whale died in southern Thailand after ingesting over 80 plastic bags, weighing up to 18lbs.
Marine biologists estimate around 300 marine animals die each year in Thai waters after eating plastic.
14
14
14
14
14
14
14
14
14
14
14
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368 . You can WhatsApp us on 07810 791 502. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.
Topics