A Cuvier's beaked whale found washed up on a beach in France died after eating 16kg of plastic waste.
The autopsy found that the whale had been suffering from a parasitic condition that affected its kidneys, and which would have had a significant impact on its hunting activities.
Cuvier's beaked whales are known to be active hunters, diving thousands of feet below the surface to seek out various species of squid, deep-sea fish and other prey, but the experts believe that its illness would have rendered this particular animal incapable of searching for food in its usual manner.Pelagis says that most species of sea creatures are affected by waste, with turtles often mistaking plastic products for jellyfish.
However, cetaceans tend to ingest plastics and other waste through bio-accumulation, where they unwittingly consume prey that has itself ingested plastic. "A dolphin knows how to recognize a piece of plastic unlike a turtle for example," Itsas Arima explained in a post on"But in this case, how can you explain that there were so many in her stomach and fed directly? We found that the animal was skinny and had a major parasitic condition that weakens it, probably preventing it from continuing to feed itself normally.
A stock image shows a Cuvier’s beaked whale, unrelated to the animal that was discovered in Messanges. The cetacean was discovered with 16kg of plastic waste in its stomach.
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