Last week, a sub-adult sperm whale had stranded and dies on a beach near Harris, Scotland. The 26-ton male had been guarded by the coast guard until a necropsy could be conducted by the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS) on the weekend.
Due to the animal’s body heat, the decaying process starts up incredibly quickly, creating gases that are trapped under the well-insulated blubber. Upon cutting the whale open, these gases escape explosively, causing its guts to blow out at the side. Within said gut, the team made an alarming discovery. Approximately 100 kg of debris was bundled as a ball in its stomach, including nets, ropes, a variety of plastic products, packing straps and tubing. Where the litter originated from could not be deduced, apart from the fact that it contained articles from both land and fishing sector. Although the whale’s intestines were otherwise mostly empty, SMASS could not confirm whether the debris was the cause of the animal’s death. Still, the “horrific” finding served as demonstration of “the hazards that marine litter and lost or discarded fishing gear can cause to marine life”.
The 14-metre sperm whale was buried on the beach after the necropsy, while further investigations take place into the animal’s death.
SMASS’ report can be found on their facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/pg/Strandings/posts/?ref=page_internal
BBC covered the incidence in this article: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-50621304
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