{"id":281897,"date":"2016-09-30T19:18:27","date_gmt":"2016-09-30T23:18:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rael.org\/?p=281897"},"modified":"2020-11-01T19:25:34","modified_gmt":"2020-11-02T00:25:34","slug":"sperm-whales-found-dead-in-germany-stomachs-full-of-plastic-and-car-parts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/noproxy.rael.org\/ar\/sperm-whales-found-dead-in-germany-stomachs-full-of-plastic-and-car-parts\/","title":{"rendered":"Sperm whales found dead in Germany, stomachs FULL of plastic and car parts"},"content":{"rendered":"
RAEL\u2019S COMMENT:<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n
Giant squids, octopuses, and manta rays are celebrating as they are their usual food\u2026<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In January, 29 sperm whales were found stranded on shores around the North Sea, an area that is too shallow for the marine wildlife. Only recently were details of the animals\u2019 necropsy released. However, scientists were deeply disturbed by what they found in the animals\u2019 stomachs.<\/p>\n

According\u00a0to a\u00a0press release\u00a0from Wadden Sea National Park in Schleswig-Holstein, many of the whales had stomachs FULL of plastic debris, including a 13-meter-long fishing net, a 70 cm piece of plastic from a car and other pieces of\u00a0plastic litter.<\/p>\n

Some suggest that the animals thought the items were food, such as squid, which is their main staple. Others, however, believe that the travesty is largely a result of humanity\u2019s shocking disregard for marine life, which has resulted in an overabundance of\u00a0plastic in the oceans.<\/p>\n

Said Robert Habeck, environment minister for the state of Schleswig-Holstein:<\/p>\n

\u201cThese findings show us the results of our plastic-oriented society. Animals inadvertently consume plastic and\u00a0plastic waste, which causes them to suffer, and at worst, causes them to starve with full stomachs.\u201d
\nNicola Hodgkins of Whale and Dolphin Conservation echoed that statement. She stated:<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough the large pieces will cause obvious problems and block the gut, we shouldn\u2019t dismiss the smaller bits that could cause a more chronic problem for all species of cetacean \u2013 not just those who suction feed.\u201d
\nThis isn\u2019t the first time a sperm whale has been found dead with innards full of\u00a0inedible contents. In 2011, a young whale was found floating dead off the Greek island of Mykonos. Its stomach was so distended, biologists thought the animal swallowed a giant squid. However, when its four stomachs were dissected, nearly\u00a0100 plastic bags and other pieces of debris\u00a0were found.<\/p>\n

It should be noted that the plastic is\u00a0not\u00a0what killed the young male sperm whales. According to\u00a0National Geographic,\u00a0they died of heart failure. This was a result of mistakenly swimming into the North Sea, likely in search of squid, and then not being able to support their own body weights in the shallow water. As a result, their internal organs collapsed.<\/p>\n

Regardless, the fact that many of their stomachs were full of\u00a0pollution\u00a0is a horrible indictment of humans. As has been reported in the past,\u00a080%\u00a0of the plastic which is discarded on land ends up in the oceans, where it is consumed by wildlife or swirls for\u00a0years\u00a0in great\u00a0garbage patches. The fact that mankind \u2013 a species with a smaller brain than a whale \u2013 is responsible for such a travesty is ironic and saddening.<\/p>\n

Until humans learn the value of living sustainably while respecting all life forms, travesties such as this one will continue to take place.<\/p>\n

Sperm Whales Found Dead In Germany, Stomachs FULL Of Plastic And Car Parts<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RAEL\u2019S COMMENT: Giant squids, octopuses, and manta rays are celebrating as they are their usual food\u2026  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":71,"featured_media":281899,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-281897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/noproxy.rael.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/noproxy.rael.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/noproxy.rael.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noproxy.rael.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/71"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noproxy.rael.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=281897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/noproxy.rael.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281897\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noproxy.rael.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/281899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/noproxy.rael.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noproxy.rael.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=281897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noproxy.rael.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=281897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}