Dead whale on Spanish beach found to have consumed 29 kilos of waste

It has been revealed that most of the waste was plastic, prompting local authorities to crack down on illegal dumping into ocean waters.

Representational image courtesy Pixabay

A 33-foot sperm whale that was found dead on a beach in Spain's southeast coast on February 27 had 29 kilograms of thrash inside its body, scientists have discovered.

In what has caused alarm among environmentalist, the enormous amount of thrash inside the whale's dead body has prompted local authorities in  Cabo de Palos to begin a campaign to clean its beaches and prevent waste being dumped into the ocean. The incident serves as yet another glaring example of how the menace of thrash is threatening species in oceans.

The dead whale, when discovered, weighed around seven tonnes which is below the average weight for its species. According to Washington Post, a local environmental group was the first to reach the spot and consequent study revealed that a large portion of the body weight was actually the weight of thrash that the whale had consumed.

???La necropsia confirma que el cachalote de Cabo de Palos murió por los plásticos x @albagrod https://t.co/KuNEe7Gjsh#NoPlastic
Foto: Planeta Azul Centro de Buceo pic.twitter.com/hzJMvRe55V

— Greenpeace España (@greenpeace_esp) April 6, 2018

Incidents of dead whales washing up on shorelines of countries like UK, The Netherlands, France and Germany have increased in recent years - prompting environmental bodies to press the panic button. Several campaigns against illegal dumping of waste into oceans have begun but a lot more needs to be done to contain the damages.