More than 330 pounds of GARBAGE found in the stomach of a whale that died in Nova Scotia.
The sperm whale died a “slow and painful” death on the coast of Nova Scotia earlier this month after swallowing 330 pounds of garbage that had compressed in its stomach.
The 45-foot male appeared emaciated when he made landfall on November 4, and although crews worked to save the whale, he died the next day.
Canadian Wildlife Conservation Cooperative performed an autopsy shortly thereafter, fishing nets, ropes, gloves, and various plastic items were found.
The Marine Animal Suppression Society (MARS) recently shared an incident saying the whale’s death is a “bright reminder” of how serious the problem of human debris littering Earth’s oceans is.
A 45-foot sperm whale has been found alive off the coast of Nova Scotia. Wildlife officials said the whale was malnourished and looked ill, leading them to suspect it did not die of natural causes.
The average adult sperm whale weighs between 35 and 45 tons, but this adult male weighed no more than 30 tons due to debris hindering its ability to eat.
Tonya Wimmer from MARS told STV news: “Watching a sperm whale so close to shore and so thin are really warning signs.”
The whale was found on a rocky shore at Craigmore, near Judik in Cape Breton.
“We found some gear, and then it went on and on. We realized that everything we saw was terrible,” Wimmer said.
Sperm whales feed like vacuum cleaners – they open their mouths and let everything around them in, which increases the risk of swallowing debris in the water and on the seabed.
Because of the way sperm whales feast, plastic can often be found in their stomachs, Wimmer said, but the clump compacted in males is larger than she’s ever seen in the past.
After the whale died, the team performed an autopsy where they found a massive 330-pound lump of debris compressed in its stomach that interfered with its ability to consume food, leading to its death from starvation.
The whale weighed about 30 tons when it was found. The average adult sperm whale weighs between 35 and 45 tons. Pictured is a team performing an autopsy on a whale.
This huge amount of garbage prevented the animal from consuming food, causing it to die of starvation.
“It would be incredibly horrifying and traumatic for this animal if it was slowly dying,” Wimmer said.
The male is just one of many sperm whales that have found plastic debris in their stomachs.
Another sperm whale washed ashore in Northumberland in 2019 and an autopsy revealed plastic inside its stomach.
Then in 2018, there was one that washed ashore in eastern Indonesia with a 13-pound piece of plastic waste in its stomach.
Rescuers found the rotting carcass of a 31-foot male sperm whale near Kapota waters in the southeastern province of Sulawesi, said Wakatobi National Park chief Heri Santoso.
The waste in his stomach included 115 plastic cups, four plastic bottles, 25 plastic bags, two flip flops, a nylon bag, and over 1,000 other plastic items.
The cause of death was unknown and the corpse was soon to be buried without an autopsy due to its decomposed state.
Then in 2018, a whale washed ashore in eastern Indonesia (pictured) with a 13-pound piece of plastic waste in its stomach.
The waste in his stomach included 115 plastic cups, four plastic bottles, 25 plastic bags, two flip flops, a nylon bag, and over 1,000 other plastic items.
A more recent study published earlier this month found that blue whales, humpbacks and fin whales eat up to 10 million pieces of microplastic every day.
Blue whales absorb the most as they feed almost exclusively on shrimp-like animals called krill.
“They are lower in the food chain than you would expect given their sheer size, which puts them closer to where plastic is in water,” said study co-author Dr Matthew Savoca.
“There is only one connection: krill eat plastic, and then the whale eats krill.”
It is believed that baleen whales may be at exceptionally high risk of ingesting microplastics.
This is due to their filtering behavior, the sheer amount of prey they eat, and the fact that they usually live in polluted regions such as the California Current.
However, data on their daily plastic consumption is lacking and limits our understanding of its risk, health effects, and ways to mitigate any effects.
“Large filter feeders like baleen whales have evolved to process and filter vast volumes of the ocean, so they are guardians of environmental change, including pollution such as microplastics,” said Jeremy Goldbogen, senior author of the study.