People witnessed a real tragedy on the shores of the North Sea when they saw a group of stranded sperm whales. It was obvious that they were not supposed to be there because this area has very shallow waters.
But, the result of the necropsy of these animals that were revealed recently has confirmed that the whales have died from a horrible thing. Experts were disturbed and disappointed once they found the content inside these whales’ guts and other bodily systems.
The Wadden Sea National Park situated in Schleswig-Holstein published a press release in which they explain that most of the unfortunate whales had stomachs packed with plastic leftovers including a very long piece of plastic that looks like a part of a car (bumper?), a huge fishing net and a huge number of small pieces of plastic.
Obviously, these whales couldn’t process this amount of plastic and they couldn’t absorb the nutrients they’ve taken. Being sated and dying as a result of starvation is a horrible way to die.
There are many experts in this field who believe that whales think that these plastic items are actually real food like squids for example.
Of course, most people agree that this is a direct result of the ignorance of people and their irresponsible behavior when it comes to marine life. As a result, tons of plastics are floating in the seas and oceans around the world.
According to the environment minister of the aforementioned German state, the results of this research have confirmed that the use of plastic and its disposal can lead to many environmental problems.
Animals can’t tell the difference and they eat plastic waste and plastic in general which leads to serious health issues in some cases, they die with stomachs packed with plastic products.
Additionally, a representative of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation organization, Nicola Hodgkins, says that even though the large pieces of plastic obviously cause problems, we should not forget that the small pieces can have a direct impact on health too.
What is also worth mentioning is that the whales that were relatively young didn’t lose their lives due to the presence of plastic. As a matter of fact, National Geographic claims that these whales died as a direct result of heart failure.
They entered the North Sea by accident, looking for food, but they couldn’t support their body weight in shallow waters. Finally, they have experienced the collapse of their internal organs.
Although young whales didn’t die from plastic, this doesn’t mean that we should not take this problem seriously. The pollution we create in seas and oceans brings death to many animals.
In addition, many of them could’ve lived healthier and longer lives if it wasn’t for the plastic waste floating around. This is something that we can change together, by disposing of waste in the right way. Learn more about this issue and help us save the planet!