Davao, the Republic of the Philippines - On March 16, a dead Cuvier's beaked whale was found dead on the shores of Mabini, Compostela Valley.
There was reportedly 40 kilograms of plastic trash found in the stomach of the dead whale. The director of the D' Bone Collector Musem, Darrell Blatchley, an American biologist, assisted in conducting a necropsy on the whale. It was said that the whale had died because of starvation and gastric shock.
Soft plastic trash has been deemed as more detrimental that hard plastics are. These soft plastics which includes plastic bags and balloons are not digestible and will not break down and pass through the sea creatures as some hard plastic would. Instead, these soft plastics will be compressed and cause blockage in the sea creatures' stomachs. Eventually, the sea creature which ingested the soft plastic waste would make the sea creature feel full, which will lead to starvation. According to studies, sea creatures mistakenly eat the soft plastic as it resembles squids among other things.
According to Blatchley, the whale starved and was not able to eat because of the plastic trash that had filled its stomach. Included in the 40 kilograms of plastic that were removed from the guts of the whale are 16 pieces of rice sacks, four plastics used in banana plantations, and a number of plastic shopping bags. Blatchley later states that this recent necropsy is on top of their list for the most plastic they have seen in a whale.
The country's Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources found the whale stranded on March 15. Fishermen and local officials joined together in an effort to release the 15.4-foot whale back into the sea. Regional bureau director Fatma Idris stated that the whale seemed weak at the time and was not able to swim well on its own.The whale was reported to be dehydrated and vomited blood on March 16.This incident has been the second recorded case in seven months in Davao alone. The first one was on August 2018 in Tagum City where Blatchley also performed the necropsy on a dead 4.3-meter long whale shark which has food wrappers, plastic cups, and other plastic debris.
The Philippines has been reported to use up to 60 billion sachets every year. The Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternative (GAIA) has emphasized how discipline is needed among consumers as much as environmental awareness and responsibility should be acknowledged by the manufacturers using single-use plastics. The death of the whale is just one of the many pitfalls of single-use plastic production and use.
