Tragedy of the whale that died with 6st of plastic in its stomach
A DEAD whale has been found washed up with six stone of plastic bags in its stomach in a shocking indictment of the state of our seas.
Environmentalists have warned that whales and marine animals will continue to die until the world stops treating the ocean as a rubbish tip.
The Cuvier’s beaked whale was spotted on a beach in the Philippines on Friday.
Workers at a museum which recovered the animal said it was filled with ‘the most plastic we have ever seen in a whale’. There were 16 rice sacks in its stomach, as well as ‘multiple shopping bags’.
The Daily Mail has been campaigning against the scourge of plastic pollution in the environment and we are urging readers to help clear up our beaches as part of Keep Britain Tidy’s Great British Spring Clean later this month.
Those who found the dead whale called the discovery ‘disgusting’ and called for more action on pollution by the world’s governments.
Darrell Blatchley, the founder and president of the D’Bone Museum and education centre in Davao City, said: ‘I was not prepared for the amount of plastic – 40 kilos roughly of rice sacks, grocery bags, banana plantation bags and general plastic bags.’
Whales mistake plastic and other rubbish in the sea for food. As they do not drink water from the sea but get it from the food they eat, Mr Blatchley said the Cuvier’s was likely to have died from dehydration and starvation.
He added that in the ten years the museum has exam- ined dead whales and dolphins, 57 of them died because of rubbish in their stomachs.
Five Asian nations – China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand – account for nearly two-thirds of the plastic waste that ends up in oceans, according to a report by environmental campaigner Ocean Conservancy.
The UK government has warned that the level of plastic in the ocean could triple in a decade unless steps are taken to curb litter.
We are urging readers to help clear up our beaches, streets and parks by taking part in Keep Britain Tidy’s Great British Spring Clean between March 22 and April 23.
An army of 406,207 volunteers have signed up so far, including 261,496 adults and 144,711 children.