40 kg of plastic found in stomach of dead whale washed ashore in Compostela Valley

Forty kilograms of assorted plastic garbage were found inside the stomach of a dead Cuvier's beaked whale which was washed ashore in Compostela Valley on Friday.

The whale was found on the shores of Barangay Cadunan in the municipality of Mabini on Friday morning.

Witnesses said it looked like it had not been long since the whale died before it was washed ashore.

A necropsy was conducted on Sunday by personnel of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources - Fishery Management Regulatory Division led by Dr. Elaine Belvis and marine biologist Darrell Blatchley, who also owns the D'Bone Collector Museum.

Among the items found inside the whale's stomach were 16 rice sacks, a plastic bag used in banana plantations, and shopping bags.

Aabot sa 40 kilo ng iba’t-ibang uri ng basurang plastic ang nadiskubre sa tiyan ng namatay na Cuvier’s beaked whale sa baybayin ng Barangay Caduanan, Mabini, Compostela Valley. (????Darrell Blatchley) @gmanews @dzbb @gmanewsbreaking pic.twitter.com/Zn1NLVPem8

— peewee bacuño (@hero_peewee) March 17, 2019

Those who conducted the necropsy said it was the largest amount of plastic materials they have found in a whale they have ever examined.

They urged the government to take action.

Whales mistakenly ingest plastic and other garbage from the sea, thinking these are food, they said.

Blatchley said that in the 10 years they have examined dead whales and dolphins, 57 of them were found to have died due to garbage in their stomachs. —Peewee Bacuño/KG, GMA News