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So here’s a question

Sperm whale found dead in Sardinia was pregnant and had 22 kilos of plastic in stomach

As we’re told plastic pollution of the oceans is at terrible levels.

We’ve also seen in recent decades and explosion of the number of cetaceans. Obvs, partly because they’re no longer hunted.

But, then, plastics in the ocean can’t be killing off the whales, can it? Can kill some, sure, anything can kill some but….

9 thoughts on “So here’s a question”

  1. From Wikipedia

    Undigested squid beaks accumulate in the second chamber – as many as 18,000 have been found in some dissected specimens.Most squid beaks are vomited by the whale, but some occasionally make it to the hindgut.

    Caveat Emptor Wiki

  2. ‘Excessive plastic use, poor waste management and marine litter from mass summer tourism are among the main causes.’

    Says ‘marine biologist Mattia Leone,’ who is apparently an expert on waste management in her spare time.

    Article mentions WWF. Which means you can dismiss it out of hand as CM propaganda.

  3. @Rowdy
    Baleen whales are plankton filterers, so feed on a mix of veggie and (small) animals. Toothed whales (like this Sperm Whale) are carnivorous – seals, squid, …

  4. @Rowdy

    Is that what your school taught you?

    Most sea creatures larger than molluscs are carnivores.

    Orcas eat other cetaceans.

  5. Pcar, I can’t remember most of what my school taught me. I thought all whales essentially live on krill filtered through baleen thingies. I really had no idea any of them were carnivorous.

  6. @Rowdy,

    Krill are sort of tiny prawns – so krill soup. Whales/cetaceans – krill soupers and toothed; toothed is Orcas, Dolphins, Porpoises etc who hunt not suck/filter.

    Orcas are king of sea who eat all but humans, and kill/eat Great Whites

    btw good that you remember reading & writing 😉

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