After a whale was discovered dead on a beach in southern Spain, scientists wanted to find out what killed her.
Thus, the giant body was autopsyed, and the cause of death did not remain a mystery much longer. In the belly of the young whale were discovered about 30 kilograms of waste, mainly plastic bags, pet, pieces of rope and fishing nets, but also other debris, CNN reports.
The discovery prompted the authorities of Murcia, Spain, to initiate a campaign to sanitize the beaches. " The presence of plastic in the ocean is one of the biggest threats to wildlife conservation around the world, because many animals are trapped in the garbage net or ingest large amounts of plastics, which end up causing their death ", Said the general director of the Murcia Environmental agency, Consuelo Rosauro.
The whale discovered on the beach in Murcia was extremely thin. Biologists said that it died of an abdominal infection called peritonitis: it simply could not digest the waste that it înghițise, causing the rupture of the digestive system.
About 150 million tonnes of waste float in our oceans and annually they are added 8 million tonnes, according to the World Economic Forum. 70% of the marine litter is nedegradabil plastic. And this figure is expected to triple in a decade.
The plastic suffocates the submarines and eventually ends up in our food.