ARCHIVED - The whale washed ashore in Cabo de Palos was killed by plastic

The Murcia government launches a campaign to reduce the amount of waste in the sea

The 9-metre sperm whale which was washed ashore on the beach of Cala del Muerto in Cabo de Palos on 27^th February died from indigestion, it has been confirmed by those who carried out the autopsy on the decomposing body of the mammal, after 29 kilos of plastic, cloth, fishing nets and other manmade debris were recovered from its stomach.

Ropes and a large canister were also retrieved from inside the animal’s digestive system, providing a graphic example of how litter and waste discarded by human beings can represent a threat to even the largest of animal species in the sea as the young whale, accustomed to a diet of squid, was unable to either digest or expel the waste he had inadvertently consumed.

But the unfortunate death of the whale has at least had one positive consequence, with the announcement this week that the Department of Culture, Tourism and the Environment is to launch a campaign to raise public awareness of the dangers of leaving litter at sea or on the shore, from where it is inevitably washed into the water. The aim is to encourage people to use and dispose of less plastic, as well as to ensure that rubbish is disposed of properly rather than merely dumped in the natural environment.

Among the planned actions, which are to be financed in part by EU funds, are eleven beach cleaning days (which will employ the methodology recommended by Ocean Conservancy, with each item of litter being noted down and classified) and 19 presentations in social and educational institutions.

The species most under threat from plastic and other human rubbish in the sea off the coast of the Region of Murcia include not only the sperm whale, but also various species of dolphin, finback and pilot whales and the loggerhead turtle, which in recent years has made various attempts to lay eggs on the beaches of the Costa Cálida.

Images (both CARM): the sperm whale which washed ashore in Cabo de Palos and some of the litter retrieved from the animal’s stomach.

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