An autopsy carried out on Thursday (February 2) on a beached whale, which was found on the island of Sotra near Bergen last weekend, showed it had 30 plastic bags in its stomach as well as other plastic items.
Several attempts were made to chase the six-metre-long Cuvier’s beaked whale back into the sea on Saturday (January 29), but eventually the whale had to be shot and it was later taken away to be examined.
He said the longest of the plastic bits had been more than two-metres long.
“I think the whale has been in pain. I don’t think it’s been comfortable to have this in the stomach. I think that what lays here is the explanation of why the animal acted so strange and stranded on Sotra this weekend,” Lislevand said.
The whale’s intestinal system was devoid of food, Norwegian media said.
Lislevand said there were plastic bags from several countries in the whale’s stomach and called plastic waste in the oceans a “huge” international problem.
Experts have sounded the alarm over how plastic pollution kills huge numbers of seabirds and marine mammals and destroys ocean ecosystems.
Some plastic objects like discarded fishing nets, kill by entangling dolphins, sea turtles and other animals. Pieces of plastic frequently get stuck in the throats and digestive tracts of marine animals.
(REUTERS)
