The body of a 31-feet-long sperm whale washed ashore in Indonesia’s Kapota Island on Monday and upon inspection it was found that eating plastic could be a reason for the mammal’s death.
WWF Indonesia posted a picture of a dead sperm whale with the breakdown of things that were found in its stomach.
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). pic.twitter.com/ZFWZgkbnzu
— WWF-Indonesia (@WWF_ID) November 19, 2018
This translates to:
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).
Regarding the matter, a WWF Indonesia official said:
Although we have not been able to deduce the cause of death, the facts that we see are truly awful.
Well, they are.
Plastic waste on sea shores is not a new problem; it has persisted for decades.
Animals have been dying, species are getting endangered.
But we won’t learn a lesson, will we?
Because lives of animals don’t matter. So what if a whale died? That’s okay. If a plastic cup costs the life of an animal. So be it.
Earlier this year, another whale that had washed ashore, had eaten 80 plastic bags.
According to a UN report, marine life is facing ‘irreparable damage’ as an insane 10m tonnes of plastic waste finds its way in the ocean every year.
Although it’s already too late, we should start taking steps to stop this because there is nothing more unfortunate than an animal dying because a human could not walk till the dustbin to throw a cup of plastic.
