In January, 13 sperm whales made headlines after reportedly stranding themselves in a beach in Germany. Many were shocked to find their carcasses washed ashore.
Speculations about the cause of their deaths ranged from global warming to disturbance caused by sonar waves. Few months later, the results of their necropsies revealed that their stomachs were full of car engine parts and plastic trash, causing alarm and anger from environmentalists and activists alike.
According to the necropsies, the whales were young, about 10 to 15 years old. Whalefacts.orgsaid the normal diet of sperm whales is composed of colossal squid, octopus, cephalopods, cuddle fish and a variety of other fish. The question is how they ingested car engine parts and even a fishing net that was almost 50 feet long.
The analysis is just an echoing example of how humans badly destroy the planet, particularly in managing our wastes.
"These findings show us the results of our plastic-oriented society," said Robert Habeck, environment minister for the state of Schleswig-Holstein in an interview with Inertia.com. "Animals inadvertently consume plastic and plastic waste, which causes them to suffer, and at worst, causes them to starve with full stomachs."
This is not the first time that animals were killed due to their accidental ingestion of human trash. In 2015, a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the Unites States of America revealed that 90 percent of sea birds accidentally ingest plastic trash.
It is projected that if we do not control plastic pollution as early as we can, all birds relying on the seas and oceans will be eating plastic in 2050.
For us humans, plastics can be attractive. They are flexible and lightweight, making them an ideal material for everyday use. But for animals and the environment, plastics are one of their biggest threats.
Over 220 million tons of plastic are produced each year, according to the United Nations. The United Nations Environment Programme estimated in 2006 that every square mile of ocean contains 46,000 pieces of floating plastic. And these result in the death of hundreds of thousands of marine animals who get trapped in or accidentally eat these plastics, mistaking them to be food, such as plankton.
Just like every creature on the planet, sperm whales play a great role in balancing the ecosystem, and without them, our Earth will be in a big trouble.
Whalefacts.org explains that nutrients from sperm whale poop help propagate the growth of phytoplankton, which pulls carbon from the air, therefore providing a cleaner and healthier breathing environment for all animals.
At present, only 200,000 to 1,500,000 sperm whales are in our oceans.