Whale Died with 40 Kg of Plastic Bags inside Stomach

Marine biologists and environment volunteers associated with the D’Bone Collector Museum were shocked to discover the brutal cause of death of the young Cuvier’s beaked whale, when they found the young whale has died because it had swallowed 40 kg (88lbs) of plastic bags.

The Museum in its public statement condemned the death of the innocent creature and said they uncovered “40 kilos of plastic bags, including 16 rice sacks, 4 banana plantation style bags and multiple shopping bags in the whales stomach after conducting an autopsy”.

“I was not prepared for the amount of plastic”, Founder and President of the D’Bone Collector Museum, Darrell Blatchley said.

The biologists of the D’ Bone Collector Museum who conducted the autopsy also said, “The most plastic we have ever seen in a whale. It’s disgusting. Action must be taken by the government against those who continue to treat the waterways and ocean as dumpsters”.

The Museum, which is located in Davao City in the Philippine island Mindanao shared images from the autopsy, which showed endless piles of rubbish extracted from the inside the animal. The cause of death is found to be “gastric shock” after ingesting all the plastic.

In South East Asia, the use of single-use plastic or the use of throwaway plastic is very much popular. According to a 2017 survey report by Ocean Conservancy and the McKinsey Center for Business and Environment found five Asian nations China, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam have been dumping more plastic in the ocean than the rest of the world which together accounted for up to 60% of the plastic waste.

D’Bone Collector Museum, owner Darrell Blatchley, who is also a marine biologist, said that in last 10 years they have examined many dead whales and dolphins. 57 of which were found to have died due to accumulated plastic and rubbish in their stomachs.

Last year in the month of June, a whale died in southern Thailand after swallowing more than 80 plastic bags weighing up to 8kg (18lb) in the stomach of the whale. Marine biologists estimate around 300 marine animals including pilot whales, sea turtles and dolphins, dies every year in Thai waters after swallowing plastic.

The death of the whale came shortly after a report by the UK government revealed the level of plastic in the ocean, which is going to triple in a decade unless strict steps are taken to curb this water danger.