Starving Beached Beaked Whale Had 30 Plastic Bags Crammed In Its Belly

A rare goose-beaked whale that beached repeatedly on a Norwegian shore was so seriously ill that it had to be euthanized — and experts soon found out why. The two-ton animal had 30 plastic bags and other plastic garbage packed in its stomach. There was little room left for any food to nourish the beast. The whale’s stomach “was full of plastic,” zoologist Terje Lislevand of Bergen University told NRK TV on Friday. There was “no food, only some remnants of a squid’s head in addition to a thin fat layer,” he said.  Throughout the week the 20-foot-long adult male repeatedly swam into the shallow waters off the island of Sotra west of Bergen. Personnel from both the fire department and the Department of Wildlife Conservation continually attempted to herd or tow the animal back into the deep, but they were unable to save the whale. The plastic — as well as candy wrappers, smaller bread bags and other garbage— was discovered during the necropsy. The whales usually feed on squid, and researchers believe the animal may have mistaken floating plastic bags for squid. The plastic was likely the reason the whale repeatedly beached, said Lislevand. He believes the animal was in serious pain for a long time. “I’m afraid to estimate how long it could have taken before his stomach was totally full,” he said. “In this case the plastic particles accumulated and created a barrier in the system.” He tol...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news