When a young sperm whale washed up on a Spanish beach earlier this year, scientists were keen to find out what caused its demise. After discovering nearly 30 kg of plastic in the whale’s stomach, they believe they know.On February 27, a 10-meter-long whale was discovered on the sand near Cabo de Palos, Murcia, Spain. The whale was very slim.
Sperm whales generally eat large squid, octopuses, small sharks, and other seafood, but this whale also ate straw sacks, plastic bags, ropes, nets, a drum line, and a plastic water bottle. Experts suspected that because the whale was unable to absorb or expel waste from its body, it perished from a gastrointestinal disease.The fact that sperm whales are considered an endangered* species contributes to the heartbreak* of the killing.
The World Wildlife Fund classifies six of the thirteen great whale species as endangered or vulnerable*. Local authorities have undertaken an initiative to clean up Spain’s beaches and seas. Consuelo Rosauro, general director of environment for Murcia, stated that “the presence of plastic in the ocean and oceans is one of the greatest threats to the conservation of wildlife throughout the world, as many animals are trapped in the trash or ingest large quantities of plastics that end up causing their death,”
Our seas currently contain over 150 million tonnes of plastic, with an additional eight million tonnes added each year. Great Garbage Patches are contaminated as a result of this. Our oceans are filled by five enormous garbage dumps. They are called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the North Pacific Garbage Patch, the Indian Ocean Garbage Patch, and the Mediterranean Garbage Patch, respectively.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which lies between Japan and America and is the closest to Australia, is best described as a massive plastic soup that floats in the ocean like oil. The following stunning details regarding the Great Pacific Garbage Patch: It is supposed to be the same size as the Queensland state. It includes six times more plastic than plankton, which is an important source of sustenance for many marine organisms.
Eighty percent of plastic comes from land, either blown into the ocean or floating in rivers, with twenty percent coming from ships and oil rigs. Scientists refer to it as the largest landfill in the world. According to scientific investigations, 5-10% of the fish at the Scrips Institution of Oceanography in California have little plastic bits.
Teen Boy Creates Ocean Cleanup
Boyan Slat, a 16-year-old Dutchman, was taken aback by the amount of plastic pollution in the water during a diving trip to Greece in 2010. He vowed to cleaning things up. Slat and a buddy devised the concept of a lengthy barrier in the water to capture huge particles of passing plastic for a school science competition. They were victorious in that contest.
After two years, he obtained a degree in aeronautical engineering* at university while continuing to explore plastic cleanups. Slat presented his ideas at a TEDx event immediately after enrolling at the institution, and the video quickly attracted international recognition. He knew he had a terrific idea. In 2013, he left college to establish The Ocean Cleanup. After five years, Slat remains the company’s founder and CEO, with 70 paid workers.
The Ocean Cleanup seeks to remove all plastic from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch within five years by deploying floating, 100-kilometer-long curved barriers made of high-density polyethylene and thermoplastic, both of which are environmentally friendly materials.