Recently there was an image that had been captured and taken by everyone by surprise. This photo showed 30 plastic bags crammed inside a whale’s stomach which had been stranded on a coast in Norway. The whale was visibly sick and the reason demonstrated the extent of the irresponsible plastic pollution in the oceans and its adverse effect on marine life.
The Norwegian scientists had found almost 30 plastic bags along with several other plastic pieces of garbage inside the stomach of the Cuvier-beaked whale. The scientists had put the whale down beside the wardens soon after they realized that this whale was severely ill and might possibly die. Moreover, the whale has been discovered in the shallow waters, off the Sotra island, which is usually not inhabited by whales.
Reports have also revealed that this Cuvier-beaked whale was found in extremely bad condition and reported to be ‘emaciated’. This report indicates that large quantities of non-biodegradable plastic materials have been ingested by the whale inside the waters. Huge plastic waste ingestion had eventually resulted in serious malnourishment of the whale. Despite this shocking discovery, the scientists stated that this grim finding is not surprising to them and is a common phenomenon now.
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Marine Life Greatly Endangered By Plastic Waste
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Dr. T. Lislevand is a zoologist studying this particular whale. He has informed that the stomach of the whale was completely stuffed with plastic bags as well as English and Danish labels. He also reiterated that this finding was not very surprising to them. Nonetheless, they were greatly saddened to find such a huge amount of plastic inside the whale.
Lislevand also claimed that the intestines of the whales had been blocked with plastic that might have been causing severe pain to the whale. However, the whale had been put down before too late.
These Cuvier-beaked whales usually survive on a diet of deep-sea fish and squid. Furthermore, the whales typically found living on the Norwegian coastline are not 22 feet in length but this specific whale was that long.
Even though the photos that came out were indeed appalling, many of the people did not seem very surprised seeing them. This is mainly owing to the reason that there has been an increasing number of images and stories regarding the many ways plastic is choking the ecosystem under the water bodies and killing marine life.
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Gruesome Images Of Plastic Choking
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There are many experts who have already issued repeated warnings regarding the harmful impact of plastic on the planet. Since the very beginning, experts have claimed that the oceans will be filled with plastic within the year 2050. As a result, plastic pollution requires urgent and immediate measures by government organizations and local communities.
It is said that a minimum of 8 million tonnes of estimated plastic has already managed to reach the oceans each year. The World Economic Forum has reported that this amount is equal to a truck filled with trash being dumped inside the water bodies every minute. Such outrageous statistics can be expected to simply increase at an exponential speed. The primary reason behind this is the excessive and widespread usage of plastic all over the world.
In addition, many of the emerging economies as well as the weaker nations are unable to recycle plastic in an accurate manner due to a lack of proper infrastructure and management. Researchers have been considering that the vast quantities of plastic being dumped in the oceans are most likely going to increase 10 times in the next 3 years.
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