Items found inside the whale included drinking cups, plastic bottles, plastic bags and flip-flops
A dead sperm whale that washed ashore in a national park in Indonesia had nearly 6kg (13 lbs) of plastic waste in its stomach,
park officials say.
park officials say.
BBC News reports:
Items found included 115 drinking cups, four plastic bottles, 25 plastic bags and two flip-flops.
The carcass of the 9.5m (31ft) mammal was found in waters near Kapota Island in the Wakatobi National Park late on Monday.
The discovery has caused consternation among environmentalists.
“Although we have not been able to deduce the cause of death, the facts that we see are truly awful,” Dwi Suprapti, a marine species conservation co-ordinator at WWF Indonesia, was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.
- Plastic pollution: Images of a global problem
- Seven charts that explain the plastic pollution problem
It was not possible to say whether the plastic had caused the whale’s death because of its advanced state of decay, she added.
In a tweet, WWF Indonesia gave the breakdown of what was found inside the animal:
5,9 kg sampah plastik ditemukan di dlm perut paus malang ini! Sampah plastik yaitu: plastik keras (19 pcs, 140 gr), botol plastik (4 pcs, 150 gr), kantong plastik (25 pcs, 260 gr), sandal jepit (2 pcs, 270 gr), didominasi o/ tali rafia (3,26 kg) & gelas plastik (115 pcs, 750 gr).
2,717 people are talking about this
End of Twitter post by @WWF_ID
“Hard plastic (19 pieces, 140g), plastic bottles (4 pieces, 150g), plastic bags (25 pieces, 260g), flip-flops (2 pieces, 270g), pieces of string (3.26kg) & plastic cups (115 pieces, 750g).”
