RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A sperm whale that died after being stranded on Harris Island in Scotland contained 100 kg (220 pounds) of garbage in its stomach.
Fishing nets, ropes, bags and plastic cups were among the waste.
According to whale experts, it is unclear whether the waste contributed to the animal’s death.
The whale’s carcass was found by residents on Seilebost beach in Scotland last Thursday.
“It was extremely sad, especially when the fishing nets and waste came out of her stomach,” said Dan Parry, who lives on the nearby beach of Luskentyre.
“We walk on these beaches almost daily, and I always take a bag to collect trash, most of it related to fishing.
According to him, the incident is clear evidence of the broader problem of marine pollution.
“This material could easily be in a net or have been lost in a storm, we just don’t know, but it shows the extent of the problem we face with marine pollution,” he adds.
A team from the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS), a Scottish organization that investigates whale and dolphin deaths, dissected the animal in an attempt to determine the cause of death.
“The animal was not particularly in poor condition, and while it is certainly plausible that this amount of waste was a stranding factor, we were unable to find any evidence that it actually affected or obstructed its bowels,” says a SMASS publication on the group’s Facebook page.
“However, having that much plastic in its stomach is terrible, must have compromised digestion, and serves to demonstrate once again the dangers that garbage in the oceans and lost or discarded fishing gear can pose to marine life”.
It is believed that the waste comes from both land and the fishing industry.
Teams from the Coast Guard and the Western Isles Council, which administers the western islands of Scotland, helped examine the whale on Saturday, as well as digging a giant hole in the sand to bury the animal.
According to SMASS data, the number of stranded whales and dolphins in Scotland is increasing – there were 204 occurrences in 2009, compared to more than 930 in 2018.