Cover image via Sabah Wildlife Department
4.25kg of plastic material was found in the stomach of a three-metre pilot whale that was beached in Kota Kinabalu
An empty detergent packet is among the plastic items found in the pilot whale's stomach. The Sabah Wildlife Department believes that the plastic item ingested by the pilot whale led to its death.
Image via Sabah Wildlife Department
The Sabah Wildlife Department was shocked to pulled out 44 pieces of plastic materials from inside the whale, including 21 small plastic bags, 11 plastic sheets, a detergent container and a six-metre long caution tape
The whale was still young between two to three years old. Villages found it beached on Teluk Dayang on 19 March 2015.
It was the plastic that led to its beaching, which also damaged its stomach and prevented it from digesting food. The young thing must have mistaken these plastic items as squid and ate them.
UMS' Borneo Marine Research Institute tried all they could to save the whale – pain killers, antibiotics, gastric protectants, force feeding- but the whale finally vomited and died after one week.
The whale probably died from chronic starvation as no food could past through its stomach
"It is very sad indeed. We don't know how many die in the ocean without being found, but it is a global problem. Not only in Sabah," said Sabah Wildlife Department assistant director Dr Sen Nathan
The whale's carcass has been returned to the sea, but the same cannot be said for 19 green turtles that were found dead on Pulau Tiga on 10 March 2015
West Coast JHLS Wildlife Officer, Rolan Niun believes the turtle carcasses were left after attempts to smuggle the turtles across borders failed
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