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On this undated photo published by the Akademi Komunitas Kelautan dan Perikanan Wakatobi (Wakatobi Marine and Fisheries Community Academy or AKKP Wakatobi), researchers take samples from the carcass of a whale stranded in Wakatobi National Park, southeast of Sulawesi, Indonesia.
(Muhammad Irpan Sejati Tassakka, AKKP Wakatobi via AP)
Park officials were shocked to discover 13 pounds of plastic waste in the stomach of a dead whale recently landed in Indonesia.
The decaying 31-foot carcass was discovered on Monday in Wakatobi National Park in southeastern Sulawesi. Rescuers intervened after hearing that villagers were beginning to slaughter the dead whale, said Park Chief Heri Santoso.
The stomach of the animal contained 115 plastic cups, four plastic bottles, 25 plastic bags, two flip flops, a nylon bag and over 1,000 other matching plastic pieces. Researchers from the World Wildlife Conservation Group (WWF) and the Park Conservation Academy have recovered the objects, Santoso added.
A sperm whale swallows 64 pounds of ash and dies of a "stomach shock".
"Although we have not been able to determine the cause of death, the facts we are seeing are really frightful," said Dwi Suprapti, coordinator of WWF Indonesia's marine species conservation.
It was not easy to immediately determine if plastic consumption was the cause of the death of the whale, Suprapti said.
In this undated photo published by the Akademi Komunitas Kelautan dan Perikanan Wakatobi (Academy of Wakatobi Marine and Fisheries Community or AKKP Wakatobi), researchers collect data on the carcass of a whale stranded in Wakatobi National Park, southeast of Sulawesi, Indonesia.
(Muhammad Irpan Sejati Tassakka, AKKP Wakatobi via AP)
The discovery of the whale should raise public awareness of the need to reduce the use of plastics, said Indonesian Minister of Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan.
"I'm so sad to hear that," said Pandjaitan. "It is possible that many other marine animals are also contaminated with plastic waste, which is very dangerous for our lives."
Associated Press contributed to this report.
