Pregnant whale washed up in Italian tourist spot had 22 kilograms of plastic in its stomach

Authored by edition.cnn.com and submitted by timart

(CNN) The carcass of a pregnant sperm whale that washed up in Sardinia, Italy, last week had 22 kilograms (49 pounds) of plastic in its stomach, and was carrying a dead fetus, the country's environment minister and a marine life non-profit organization said.

Luca Bittau, president of the SeaMe group, told CNN the beached mammal's remains contained "garbage bags ... fishing nets, lines, tubes, the bag of a washing machine liquid still identifiable, with brand and barcode ... and other objects no longer identifiable."

"She was pregnant and had almost certainly aborted before (she) beached," he said. "The fetus was in an advanced state of composition."

The whale had 22 kilograms (49 pounds) of plastic in its stomach.

The dead animal, which was eight meters (26 feet) long, washed up on a beach in the Sardinian tourist hotspot of Porto Cervo.

Bittau said the cause of death would be known after histological and toxicological examinations carried out by veterinarians in Padua, northern Italy.

FeelinJipper on April 1st, 2019 at 13:48 UTC »

We need a massive cultural shift away from packaged goods.

volunteervancouver on April 1st, 2019 at 13:36 UTC »

Ahhh the cycle of life, isnt it beautiful. We throw out our plastics to the ocean and the ocean in its internal wisdom some how finds a way to bring it back.

drkgodess on April 1st, 2019 at 12:59 UTC »

Regardless of who is currently polluting the most, it is all of our responsibility to keep the Earth habitable.

"We've used the 'comfort' of disposable objects in a lighthearted way in the past years and now we are paying the consequences. Indeed the animals, above all, are the ones paying them," he continued.

Costa also referred to the recent approval by the European Parliament of a law banning a wide-range of single-use plastic items, such as straws, cotton buds and cutlery, by 2021. "Italy will be one of the first countries to implement it," he promised. "The war on disposable plastic has begun. And we won't stop here."

If the West starts reducing or banning single-use plastics, then less will be produced in those third world places that throw them away.

This is everybody's problem. No matter who started it.