A 56-foot-long sperm whale washed along the coastline of Hawaii in early 2023. At first glance, this sperm whale had no apparent cause of death, but when researchers opened the whale to perform the necropsy, the story changed. This massive sperm whale was bursting with plastic debris in its stomach. The whale’s stomach was so significant in volume that they could not examine the entirety of the organism’s contaminants, but what they uncovered shocked the researchers.
The researchers found their typical food source inside this whale, including squid beaks and fish skeletons. In addition to this, they recovered several artificial contaminants, including:
A float
At least six hagfish traps
At least seven types of fishing nets
At least two types of plastic bags
A plastic light protector
Fishing line