An ailing pilot whale that washed up in a beach in southern Thailand had 18 plastic bags weighing 80 pounds in its stomach. Despite attempts by marine conservationists to save the whale, it died five days later. They say the plastic bags clogged up the whale’s digestive tract and it wasn’t able to eat. In essence, the whale starved to death.
After the whale died, a necropsy showed the extent of the plastic in its stomach. Stories and pictures of the whale promoted an outrage in social media.
Each year, more than 300 endangered sea turtles and 150 dolphins and whales are stranded on beaches in Thailand after ingesting plastic. Pilot whales usually eat squid, but they also eat octopus and small fish. The local authorities say the whale probably thought the floating plastic bags were food.
A recent study said that more than eight million metric tons of plastic enter the world’s oceans every year. The six counties producing the most plastic waste were in Asia and the Pacific, with China topping the list, then Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Read more:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/04/world/asia/thailand-whale-plastics-pollution.html
