Malaysia: Whale shark starved to death after consuming plastic bag, says Sabah Wildlife Dept

Avila Geraldine New Straits Times 8 Feb 19;



KOTA KINABALU: A dead whale shark that washed ashore at Menumbok beach in Kuala Penyu district, about 155 kilometres away from here, was believed to have starved to death after consuming a large plastic bag.

The carcass of the male juvenile whale shark was found on Feb 5, by a teacher who happened to be jogging along nearby Tanjung Aru beach.

Sabah Wildlife Department’s Wildlife Rescue Unit was alerted and rushed to the scene to conduct necropsy. The team was shocked to find a plastic bag, measuring 46cm in length and 32cm in width, inside the shark's stomach.

According to WRU manager Dr Sen Nathan, the cause of death was due to intestinal obstruction leading to starvation and death and that the plastic was causing a physical obstruction in its gastrointestinal tract.

Sabah Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga, in a statement said, plastic pollution in our ocean is a very serious threat to marine wildlife.

She stressed that the best solution to protect marine animals is to either dispose plastics correctly or stop using them.

Although whale shark is not protected under the Wildlife Conservation Enactment, it is protected under the Fisheries Act 1985 and International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora Act 2008.

Meanwhile, Sabah Fisheries Department’s Marine Resource Management Office head Lawrence Kissol said several stranded cases of marine mammals in Peninsula Malaysia were also caused by plastic pollution.

He also highlighted the importance of having proper waste management aimed towards conserving marine species in the country, particularly in Sabah.

He further noted that whale shark or Rhinocodon typus is not allowed to be exploited under the provided Acts.

After the post-mortem, Kissol who also at the site, took parts of the carcass (head and fins) for the purpose of education and awareness programmes.

Tissue samples and the cartilaginous skeleton were also taken for DNA analysis and age prediction.


Plastic bag causes death of whale shark in Sabah
stephanie lee The Star 8 Feb 19;

KOTA KINABALU: A whale shark was found dead in waters off the Tanjung Aru beach in Menumbok, some 140km from here.

Postmortem results showed the shark had died of starvation and indigestion as it had a huge plastic bag stuck in its stomach.

Sabah Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga said the department sent a team to check on the carcass after being informed by a teacher who stumbled across it on Tuesday (Feb 5).

“When we heard the news, I directed our Wildlife Rescue Unit (WRU) to investigate," he said in a statement issued on Friday (Feb 8).

Augustine said the team did not find any other beached carcasses but the postmortem found the large plastic bag in the whale shark.

"The plastic bag, measuring 46cm in length by 32cm in width, caused a physical obstruction in its gastrointestinal tract," he said.

WRU manager Dr Sen Nathan said it was evident the cause of death was due to intestinal obstruction leading to starvation and death.

He said plastic pollution in our oceans is a very serious threat to marine wildlife.

"This should be a grave reminder to us that disposing of plastic correctly or, even better, not using plastic bags and other plastic paraphernalia at all is the best solution in protecting our ocean’s inhabitants,” Dr Sen said.

Plastics are often mistaken for jellyfish and other food sources by marine creatures, and have been found to be the source of death in many of them.