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Sperm whale swallows 64 pounds of trash, dies of 'gastric shock'
FoxNews.com ^ | April 9, 2018 | Jennifer Earl

Posted on 04/09/2018 5:40:01 PM PDT by ETL

Scientists were appalled to find 64 pounds of garbage and plastic -- including bags, ropes, nets and even a drum -- inside the stomach of a young sperm whale that recently washed up on a beach in Spain.

The 6-ton, 33-foot-long creature was discovered near a lighthouse in Cabo de Palos in the region of Murcia on Feb. 27, the regional government said in a statement last week. A necropsy revealed it was killed by "gastric shock" to its stomach and intestines after ingesting the trash, marine experts told The Telegraph.

"Experts found the inner walls of the whale's abdomen to be inflamed due to a bacterial or fungal infection," the British newspaper reported. "This is likely a result of the whale unable to expel the plastics from its system, resulting in peritonitis."

Officials said the dead whale is just the latest example of the troubling effect pollution is having on the world's oceans, and urged residents to clean up after themselves.

"The presence of plastics in seas and oceans is one of the greatest threats to the conservation of wildlife throughout the world, as many animals are trapped in the trash or ingest large amounts of plastics that end up causing death," Consuelo Rosauro, the local government's general director of natural environment, said in an online statement.

The sperm whale, which feeds almost exclusively on squid and has an average lifespan of 70 years, is protected under the Spanish Catalogue of Endangered Species as well as the U.S. Endangered Species Conservation Act.

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: marinebiology; pollution
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1 posted on 04/09/2018 5:40:01 PM PDT by ETL
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2 posted on 04/09/2018 5:41:55 PM PDT by ETL (Obama-Hillary, REAL Russia collusion! Uranium-One Deal, Missile Defense, Nukes. See my FR home page)
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To: ETL

64 pounds of trash? Wasn’t that Moochie’s required school lunch program?


3 posted on 04/09/2018 5:43:55 PM PDT by mass55th (Courage is being scared to death - but saddling up anyway...John Wayne)
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To: ETL

Almost happened to me the other day. Hah


4 posted on 04/09/2018 5:44:38 PM PDT by dforest (Never let a Muslim cut your Hair.)
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To: ETL

I thought it was about that stormy chic.

Then I realized I switched the headline.


5 posted on 04/09/2018 5:45:10 PM PDT by freedumb2003 (robert mueller is an unguided missile)
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To: All

Sorry. That 2nd photo was of a whale from 2011. It came up on an images search for the other.

2011: Large sperm whale beaches and dies in Spain
https://www.newsday.com/news/nation/large-sperm-whale-beaches-and-dies-in-spain-1.3125679


6 posted on 04/09/2018 5:46:31 PM PDT by ETL (Obama-Hillary, REAL Russia collusion! Uranium-One Deal, Missile Defense, Nukes. See my FR home page)
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To: ETL

Well according to evolution theory whales will adapt to their surroundings or die off.

Natural selection seems to be at issue here.

sort of tongue in cheek


7 posted on 04/09/2018 5:48:41 PM PDT by Chickensoup (Leftists today are speaking as if they plan to commence to commit genocide against conservatives.)
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To: ETL

Any thread that includes the words sperm and swallows is sure to be blocked by all the firewalls


8 posted on 04/09/2018 5:55:33 PM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: ETL

And THAT’S why we can’t have plastic rings holding together the six packs any more.


9 posted on 04/09/2018 5:58:24 PM PDT by Dr. Sivana (There is no salvation in politics.)
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To: ETL

That we are dumping our trash in the ocean is troubling. Do we not have landfills anymore?


10 posted on 04/09/2018 6:00:53 PM PDT by softengine
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To: All
Here are some other beached whales that went unreported...










11 posted on 04/09/2018 6:04:05 PM PDT by ETL (Obama-Hillary, REAL Russia collusion! Uranium-One Deal, Missile Defense, Nukes. See my FR home page)
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To: mass55th

12 posted on 04/09/2018 6:13:13 PM PDT by ETL (Obama-Hillary, REAL Russia collusion! Uranium-One Deal, Missile Defense, Nukes. See my FR home page)
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To: ETL

Shouldn’t eat that shit. Must have been a dumb Democrat whale.


13 posted on 04/09/2018 6:17:06 PM PDT by Bonemaker (invictus maneo)
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To: freedumb2003

“Sperm whale swallows 64 pounds of trash, dies of ‘gastric shock’

“I thought it was about that stormy chic.”

“Stormy Daniels swallows 64 pounds of sperm and goes about her business”.


14 posted on 04/09/2018 6:20:33 PM PDT by Bonemaker (invictus maneo)
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To: ETL
Youngsters will put anything in their mouths.

So now we have to childproof the entire ocean?

15 posted on 04/09/2018 6:23:29 PM PDT by ZOOKER (Until further notice the /s is implied...)
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To: Dr. Sivana
And THAT’S why we can’t have plastic rings holding together the six packs any more.

This turtle apparently was snared by the plastic rings while younger and smaller.

Lots of other animals get caught and entangled by them, especially birds at landfills.


16 posted on 04/09/2018 6:24:33 PM PDT by ETL (Obama-Hillary, REAL Russia collusio<n! Uranium-One Deal, Missile Defense, Nukes. See my FR home page)
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To: ETL

I keep waiting to see a list of countries dumping trash in the ocean.


17 posted on 04/09/2018 6:26:54 PM PDT by aimhigh (1 John 3:23)
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To: ZOOKER

“Youngsters will put anything in their mouths.”


Maybe the whale swallowed 64 pounds of childproof caps !

.


18 posted on 04/09/2018 6:28:13 PM PDT by Mears
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To: Buckeye McFrog

Definitely any images search will be blocked or restricted.


19 posted on 04/09/2018 6:29:08 PM PDT by ETL (Obama-Hillary, REAL Russia collusio<n! Uranium-One Deal, Missile Defense, Nukes. See my FR home page)
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To: ETL

“Was it a Titleist?”


20 posted on 04/09/2018 6:41:24 PM PDT by bramps (It's the Islam, stupid!)
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