Dead whale found on southern coast of Thailand with 80 plastic bags weighing 8kg in stomach
A pilot whale calf that swallowed more than 80 plastic bags died off the coast of southern Thailand on June 2. (Photo: Facebook)
China Daily website, June 3, according to Agence France-Presse reported that a pilot whale calf in southern Thailand after swallowing more than 80 plastic bags died.
The baby pilot whale was barely alive when it was found, and rescuers struggled to get it to spit out five plastic bags over the next four days, an official from Thailand's Department of Marine and Coastal Resources said. But an autopsy later found that the calf had 80 plastic bags in its stomach, weighing up to 8kg.
Local Marine biologists said the whale was unable to swallow any nutritious food because of the large number of plastic bags. He added that nearly 300 Marine creatures, including pilot whales, turtles and dolphins, are killed every year in Thai waters by swallowing plastic bags. "It's a serious problem. We use too many plastic bags every year."
The pilot whale calf was found in a canal near the Malaysian border on May 28, Thailand's Department of Marine and Coastal Resources said in a Facebook post. Rescuers tried to save the whale, but unfortunately, the pilot whale calf died on the 2nd.