Scientists have found what they believe is a record amount of plastic in the stomach of a whale that died in the Philippines.
The animal was starved and dehydrated, and had been vomiting blood, biologists said.
A post-mortem examination revealed 40kg of plastic waste in its stomach, including “multiple” shopping bags, banana plantation bags and 16 rice sacks.
The findings prompted renewed calls for the Philippines government to take action against people dumping plastic into the sea.
The Philippines are the third-worst polluter of oceans after China and Indonesia, according to Greenpeace.
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A dead sperm whale lies on Hunstanton beach in Norfolk on February 5 2016
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Volunteers pour buckets of water over the 80 remaining live pilot whales found stranded on remote Ocean Beach on New Zealand’s southern-most Stewart island, January 8 2003
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Contractors clear away the body of one of the dead 48ft sperm whales that were washed-up on a beach near Gibraltar Point in Skegness, Lincolnshire in 2016
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People pass by a beached whale at the Pointe de la Torche, near Brest in France on November 29 2011
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A woman touches the tail of a large whale carcass on Wattamola Beach at the Royal National Park in Sydney on September 25 2018
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Beached humpback whale in California, 2015
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Dead long fin pilot whales at Hamelin Bay on Australia’s west coast on March 23 2009
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A 36ft sperm whale lies dead on the beach at Sutton Bridge, in The Wash, off the Lincolnshire coast, where it became stranded in 2004
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A female fin whale opens its mouth as it lies stranded and alive on the beach at Carlyon Bay, Cornwall on August 13 2012
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The lower jaw of a dead sperm whale that stranded itself on a beach in Hunstanton, Norfolk on February 5, 2016
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One of the five sperm whales that were found washed ashore on beaches near Skegness, Lincolnshire over the weekend on January 25 2016
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Employees at work to skin the remains of a beached 60ft whale on January 25 2013
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Two long-finned pilot whales are stranded on a beach in the northern French city of Calais on November 2 2015
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A sperm whale lies dead after becoming stranded on a beach in Hunstanton, Norfolk on February 5 2016
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Crowds gather as a sperm whale lies dead after becoming stranded on a beach in Hunstanton, Norfolk on February 5 2016
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A dead sperm whale lies on Hunstanton beach in Norfolk on February 5 2016
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Volunteers pour buckets of water over the 80 remaining live pilot whales found stranded on remote Ocean Beach on New Zealand’s southern-most Stewart island, January 8 2003
AFP/Getty
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Contractors clear away the body of one of the dead 48ft sperm whales that were washed-up on a beach near Gibraltar Point in Skegness, Lincolnshire in 2016
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People pass by a beached whale at the Pointe de la Torche, near Brest in France on November 29 2011
AFP/Getty
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A woman touches the tail of a large whale carcass on Wattamola Beach at the Royal National Park in Sydney on September 25 2018
AFP/Getty
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Beached humpback whale in California, 2015
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Dead long fin pilot whales at Hamelin Bay on Australia’s west coast on March 23 2009
AFP/Getty
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A 36ft sperm whale lies dead on the beach at Sutton Bridge, in The Wash, off the Lincolnshire coast, where it became stranded in 2004
PA
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A female fin whale opens its mouth as it lies stranded and alive on the beach at Carlyon Bay, Cornwall on August 13 2012
Getty
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The lower jaw of a dead sperm whale that stranded itself on a beach in Hunstanton, Norfolk on February 5, 2016
Getty
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One of the five sperm whales that were found washed ashore on beaches near Skegness, Lincolnshire over the weekend on January 25 2016
Getty
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Employees at work to skin the remains of a beached 60ft whale on January 25 2013
AFP/Getty
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Two long-finned pilot whales are stranded on a beach in the northern French city of Calais on November 2 2015
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A sperm whale lies dead after becoming stranded on a beach in Hunstanton, Norfolk on February 5 2016
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Crowds gather as a sperm whale lies dead after becoming stranded on a beach in Hunstanton, Norfolk on February 5 2016
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Together with Vietnam and Thailand, the countries account for up to 60 per cent of the plastic waste that ends up in oceans, experts say.
The Cuvier’s beaked whale, which was 4.7m (15.4ft) long, had died of starvation and dehydration, post-mortem tests confirmed.
Sheets of plastic were lifted out of its stomach.
Experts at the D’Bone Museum in the Philippines have recovered 61 whales and dolphins in 10 years, but said their latest discovery was “the most plastic we have ever seen in a whale”.
Marine biologist Darrell Blatchley said: “Upon reaching the stomach I knew this whale had died due to plastic ingestion.
“I was not prepared for the amount of plastic.
“Forty kilos roughly of rice sacks, grocery bags, banana plantation bags and general plastic bags. Sixteen rice sacks total. It was so bad the plastic was beginning calcification.
“The Philippine people are a proud people – sadly it’s not in being clean or taking care of the environment.
“The Philippines needs to change from the children up or nothing will be left.”
The museum posted on social media: “It’s disgusting. Action must be taken by the government against those who continue to treat the waterways and ocean as dumpsters.”
Four months ago a dead sperm whale that washed ashore in Indonesia had nearly 6kg of plastic waste in its stomach, including flip-flops and 115 drinking cups.
And last summer 80 pieces of plastic rubbish, weighing 8kg, were found in the stomach of a whale that died in Thailand.
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