Shocking autopsy photos show toll of plastic waste on dead whale

Images show marine biologist removing 88lb worth of plastic bags from stomach of whale that died in Philippines of ‘gastric shock’
Erin Durkin The Guardian 19 Mar 19;

Graphic autopsy images have revealed the terrible toll that plastic waste took on a young whale found dead in the Philippines.

The juvenile Cuvier’s beaked whale died of “gastric shock” after swallowing 88lb (40kg) of plastic bags, according to marine biologists at the D’Bone Collector Museum, a natural history institution in Davao City in the Philippines.

Photos show the museum director, Darrell Blatchley, pulling sheet after sheet of plastic out of the stomach of the dead whale, which was found on Saturday. A heap of plastic bags piled up next to the dead animal.

The trash included 16 rice sacks, four banana plantation style bags and many disposable plastic shopping bags.

It was the most plastic experts at the center have ever found in the stomach of a whale – but deaths of marine mammals from ingesting discarded plastic are far from rare. Blatchey said his team has recovered 57 whales and dolphins that died after ingesting plastic, fishing nets or other trash and pollution over the last decade.

“It’s disgusting,” the group said. “Action must be taken by the government against those who continue to treat the waterways and ocean as dumpsters.”