Researchers in Hawaii say they are “surprised and sad” to find plastic items and other marine debris in the stomach of a 60-ton sperm whale that washed up on a reef in a park in Kauai.
The whale carcass was discovered on Jan. 27 in Lydgate Park. Heavy equipment was used to transport it to the beach, where researchers from University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Health and Stranding Lab spent 15 hours examining it and searching for clues about what led to its death, the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources said on Facebook.
A “major finding,” according to Dr. Kristi West, the director of the health and stranding lab, was “the number of manufactured items in the whale’s stomach.”
“In addition to squid beaks, fish skeletons and other prey remains, we found at least six hagfish traps and we also found significant amounts of at least seven types of fishing net, at least two types of plastic bags, a light protector, fishing line and a float from a net,” West said. “We did find a number of things in the stomach of the sperm whale that may have contributed to its death and are certainly disturbing.”
Plastic bags and fishing nets …. by-products of windmills.