Whoa! 64 Pounds Of Plastic waste found in Dead Sperm Whale's stomach in Spain
A sperm whale was found dead on the shores of southern Spain and scientists have discovered 64 pounds of trash along with other debris in its digestive system which led to its death.
The 33-foot sperm whale was seen near a lighthouse in Cabo de Palos on Spain's southeastern coast on February 27, 2018. Through a necropsy, scientists identified that the items got stuck in the digestive system and various things were found in it including plastic bags, pieces of net, and a plastic water container.
The human trash was so much in the sperm whale that the it couldn't expel the garbage from its digestive system. Local authorities revealed that whale died because of inflammation of the abdominal lining, or peritonitis.
Generally, the whale prefers giant squid but this particular 33-foot sperm whale that washed up on the shore of Murcia was unexpectedly thinner. Local officials were concerned as the whale is an endangered species.
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#MedioAmbiente lanza una #campaña para concienciar sobre el peligro de las #basurasmarinas para la #Fauna Ejemplo: La necropsia de un #Cachalote varado 🐋 detectó en su aparato digestivo 29 kg de basura 😢#StopBasurasMarinas #Concienciación ♻️+inf: https://t.co/mLjhNreLlx pic.twitter.com/dqejUXFkWS
— EspaciosNaturalesMur (@EspNaturalesMur) April 4, 2018
The death of sperm whale forced the Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and the Environment in Murcia to launch an awareness campaign against the excessive use of plastics and leaving trash near marine environments in Murcia.
"The ASEAN region's contribution to plastic pollution in the oceans cannot be ignored and is already way beyond alarming," Greenpeace Philippines's Vince Cinches said, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Scientists believe that the greatest threat to animals in that water is the huge amount of trash, plastic which they consume and it leads to their death.
The clean up activity will take place mostly around the coastal region of Murcia. To clean the beaches in the region, the campaign will include 11 features that the authorities will use.
They will also identify the data which will include the type and amount of garbage that are littering Murcia's coastal region.
In a recent report March 2018, the percentage of litter found in the ocean is non-degradable plastic. It also found that the number is expected to triple within the next decade.
Meanwhile, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch has recently been found to be 4 to 16 times larger than previously believed.
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First published: 12 April 2018, 16:01 IST