A 31-foot sperm whale found dead in Indonesia’s Wakatobi National Park had over 6 kilograms of plastic in its stomach, including plastic bags, water bottles and two pairs of flip-flops.
Though marine species conservation coordinator at WWF-Indonesia, Dwi Suprapti, says the cause of death has not yet been established, the discovery of the whale comes at a time of increasing concern over the impact of plastic pollution on marine life.
According to a recent study by the UK government, without intervention, the amount of plastic in the earth’s oceans is set to triple within a decade.