The Online Newspaper of Lakewood High School

Lakewood Times

Lakewood Times

Lakewood Times

    Pregnant Whale died with 50 pounds of plastic in her stomach

    Pregnant Whale died with 50 pounds of plastic in her stomach

    A pregnant sperm whale washed up dead, on a sandy beach outside of Porto Cervo, a resort town on Italy’s island of Sardinia last week.

    When scientists cut her open her womb and stomach, they found a horrifying sight; a dead baby whale and nearly 50 pounds of plastic filled more than 2/3 of her stomach.

    Luca Bittau, wrote,” I never saw such a big quantity of plastic.” She’s a marine biologist at SEAME Sardina, which is a nonprofit organization that focuses on studying and protecting the cetaceans that live in the region. I asked student James Toole what he thought and he said,” I hope this situation with the ocean and plastic gets fixed soon before it becomes a big problem.”

    They have cleaned up stuff like, fishing nets, fishing lines, plastic bags, plastic pipes, and even some plastic plates, yes the ones you use in your house on the dinner table. Luca Bittau said,” It was like our usual life was there but inside this stomach.”

    The scientists think the 26ft long whale was a part of a pod that spends its time feeding and breeding in the nearby Caprera Canyon. A crevasse deep below the crystalline surface waters of the Mediterranean Sea. The waters are a very popular spot for boaters, fishing, and swimming.

    I think that we need to be cleaning our oceans before this becomes a daily thing finding dead whales, fish, and sea life filled with plastic. The biologists thought the biggest challenge the whales faced were the dangers of boat strikes—not plastic pollution.

    The problem for the Whales right now is when they are swimming around trying to find food they use echolocation but a plastic bag waving in the deep ocean currents could be difficult to distinguish from a fluttering squid.

    More to Discover