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A dead whale stranded on a beach in eastern Indonesia had more than 1,000 plastic waste in his stomach, including goblets and flip-flops, officials said.
Rescuers from Wakatobi National Park on Monday found the 9.5-m sperm whale carcass near the park in South-East Sulawesi province.
Environmentalists have reported to villagers that villagers have surrounded the whale and are beginning to slaughter the rotting carcass, said Park Chief Heri Santoso.
Researchers from the WWF Wildlife Protection Group and the Park Conservation Academy have discovered about 5.9 kg of plastic waste in the animal's stomach.
Among the debris were 115 plastic cups, four plastic bottles, 25 plastic bags, two flip flops, a nylon bag and more than 1,000 other pieces of plastic, Santoso said.
"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 marine conservation at WWF Indonesia.
She added that it was not possible to determine if the plastic had caused the death of the whale due to the state of advanced decomposition of the animal.
Indonesia is the second largest plastic polluter in the world behind China, according to a study published in the journal Science in January.
The archipelago of 260 million people produces 3.2 million tons of mishandled plastic waste every year, of which 1.29 million are dumped into the ocean, the study says.
Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Indonesian Minister for Maritime Affairs Coordination, said that the discovery of the whale should raise public awareness of the need to reduce the use of plastic and urged the government to take stricter measures to protect l & # 39; ocean.
"I'm so sad to hear that," said Pandjaitan, who called for less plastic use.
"It is possible that many other marine animals are also contaminated with plastic waste, which is very dangerous for our lives."
He added that the government was striving to reduce the use of plastic, including urging stores not to provide plastic bags to customers and explaining the problem faced in schools to reach the public. Government goal of reducing the use of plastic by 70% by 2025.
"This great ambition can be achieved if people learn to understand that plastic waste is a common enemy," he added.
