Perhaps another whale has become a victim of plastic pollution. Near the coast in the Indonesian province of Southeast Sulawesi, according to The Guardian, a 9.5-meter-long sperm whale was found, in the stomach of which more than 1,000 pieces of plastic were found, including 115 plastic cups and 25 plastic bags. In general, plastic garbage found in the stomach of a whale weighs about six kilograms.
“Although we cannot conclude about the cause of death, the available facts are truly terrible,” said Dwi Suprapti, a specialist in the Indonesian division of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), to CNN.
This is not the first sperm whale discovered this year with a large amount of plastic in the stomach. So, in April, a dead sperm whale was found on the coast in southern Spain, in the stomach of which there were 29 kg of plastic trash. In June, in Thailand, a dying black dolphin was discovered, which was literally vomiting plastic bags.
Plastic contamination is a serious problem. According to a study last year, by the 1950s, by 2015, humanity had produced more than 8.3 billion tons of plastic: of these tons, more than 6.3 billion were either in landfills or in nature. It is difficult to establish how much plastic goes into the ocean every year: a 2015 study showed that only in 2010, up to 12.7 million tons were thrown out in the ocean. In the stomach of a dead sperm whale, found off the coast in eastern Indonesia, they found almost six kilograms plastic.
Perhaps another whale has become a victim of plastic pollution. Near the coast in the Indonesian province of Southeast Sulawesi, according to The Guardian, a 9.5-meter-long sperm whale was found, in the stomach of which more than 1,000 pieces of plastic were found, including 115 plastic cups and 25 plastic bags. In general, plastic garbage found in the stomach of a whale weighs about six kilograms.
“Although we cannot conclude about the cause of death, the available facts are truly terrible,” said Dwi Suprapti, a specialist in the Indonesian division of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), to CNN.
This is not the first sperm whale discovered this year with a large amount of plastic in the stomach. So, in April, a dead sperm whale was found on the coast in southern Spain, in the stomach of which there were 29 kg of plastic trash. In June, in Thailand, a dying black dolphin was discovered, which was literally vomiting plastic bags.
Plastic contamination is a serious problem. According to a study last year, by the 1950s, by 2015, humanity had produced more than 8.3 billion tons of plastic: of these tons, more than 6.3 billion were either in landfills or in nature. It is difficult to establish how much plastic gets into the ocean every year: a 2015 study showed that only in 2010, up to 12.7 million tons were thrown out in the ocean.
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