June 2, 2018:
The whale vomited up five bags during the rescue attempt before it died.
In southern Thailand a whale has died after swallowing more than 80 plastic bags.
Officials had attempted rescue that failed to nurse the mammal back to health.
World over Thailand is one of the world’s largest consumers of plastic bags, which kill hundreds of marine creatures living near the country’s popular beaches each year.
The latest victim was a small male pilot whale after it was found barely alive in a canal near the border with Malaysia, the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources said on their Facebook page today.
Thailand's veterinary team tried “to help stabilise its illness but finally the whale died” yesterday afternoon, the post said.
Autopsy of the corpse revealed 80 plastic bags weighing up to eight kilograms (18 pounds) in the creature’s stomach, the department added.
Photos accompanying the post showed a group of people using buoys to keep the whale afloat after it was first spotted on Monday and an umbrella to shield it from the scorching sun.
The poor whale vomited up five bags during the rescue attempt before it died, the department said.
During lecturer at Kasetsart University, Thon Thamrongnawasawat, a marine biologist, said the bags had made it impossible for the whale to eat any nutritional food. “If you have 80 plastic bags in your stomach, you die,” he said.
At least 300 marine animals including pilot whales, sea turtles and dolphins perish each year in Thai waters after ingesting plastic, Thon told AFP.
“It’s a huge environmental problem,” he said. “We use a lot of plastic.” The pilot whale’s plight generated sympathy and anger among Thai netizens.
“I feel sorry for the poor animal that didn’t do anything wrong but has to bear the brunt of human actions,” one Twitter user wrote in Thai.
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