NORWAY: Dying Whale Discovered FULL of Plastic Bags (+ Video)

Warning: Disturbing Images

Source

How sad and horrifying it must have been to have discovered what was hidden in this poor mammal's stomach - as if we needed any more proof of what happens when we dump waste into the world's oceans.

When scientists opened up and analyzed the whale’s stomach, they found it full of plastic waste - 30 plastic bags to be exact.


The beaked whale was also said to be emaciated and had very little blubber – suggesting that it was badly malnourished.

Source

‘The whale’s stomach was full of plastic bags and packaging with labels in Danish and English,’ Dr Terje Lislevand, a zoologist who studied the whale, said.

He added that the whale's intestines were likely blocked up by the build-up of the plastic, which would have caused severe pain.

Source

According to experts:

• There are around five trillion pieces of plastic litter floating on the world’s oceans
• These kill innumerable animals, such as this poor whale, every year
• Around 100billion plastic carrier bags are used every year in Europe – eight billion of which end up as litter
• It has been estimated that by 2050 there will be more plastic in the sea than fish

Source

Source(s): metro | whio

---

Video

A sick goose-beaked whale was found in Sotra, Norway on Saturday. It was so sick that it had to be euthanized, reports NRK. When researchers opened its stomach, they found 30 plastic bags inside as well as many small pieces of plastic. The whale continued to swim to shore as the fire department spent hours trying to get it out into deep waters. They assumed that the whale must be sick due its strange behaviour and so they contacted the Department of Wildlife Conservation.

David Williams

The whale got stuck in shallow waters repeatedly despite help from both the fire department and the Department of Wildlife Conservation. “The whale was sick, and therefore it had to be euthanized. We are researching it now to find out exactly why it was sick,” Eivind Sangolt from the Department of Wildlife Conservation tells NRK. It took 5 people and 6 hours to dismember the remains. Large quantities of small plastic as well as candy wrappers and plastic bread bags were found in addition to the 30 plastic bags, according to NRK. Zoologist Terje Lislevand tells NRK that the whale was in a lot of pain for a long time. Its digestive system was completely depleted of nutrients.