Scientists discovered a whale beached off the coast of Norway dying. It was later revealed that the large mammal has about 30 plastic bags blocking its stomach.
The team of researchers ultimately decided to put it out of its misery when it was deemed the most humane action. While it may be shocking to some, scientists have expressed their concerns over the vast amounts of plastic waste polluting the planet's waters.
The Cuvier's beaked whale has been found beached off the coast of the island of Sotra, Norway. After researchers have evaluated the large animal, it is evident that the creature was in a very poor state even before being washed up to shallow waters.
The carcass was transported to the University of Bergen in Denmark for further examination. It was determined that the animal was unable to digest food, which may have been going on not shorter than a couple of weeks.
Evidence points out that the whale was emaciated, which it bears minimal amounts of blubber under its skin as a direct result. The animal was clearly malnourished suggesting that the plastic blocking its stomach has lead to its demise.
The Norwegian population may be excused of the blame, but collectively, the global human population may very well take full responsibility as non-biodegradable waste is still polluting the oceans. Some of the plastic bags recovered from the whale's stomach bears some packaging with labels in English, as well as Danish.
Despite having initially found the large mammal alive, the scientists had decided that it has minimal chances of surviving its injury and thus took to action to end the whale's suffering. Later on, it was found out that a large amount of non-biodegradable waste has been blocking its digestive track.
The cause itself isn't what got the scientists more intrigued than normal but it was the amount of plastic bags that found its way into the creature's stomach. The odds of locating a marine animal suffering from the effects of pollution is maintaining a high alarming rate of probability.
Experts from the World Economic Forum has conducted a study which data suggests that by 2050, plastic waste could surpass the fish by weight. Currently, it is estimated that there are at least 150 million tons of non-biodegradable waste drifting in the planet's oceans.