Sperm Whales Found Dead In Germany, Stomachs FULL Of Plastic And Car Parts

The whales’ deaths are symbolic of humanity’s shocking disregard for marine life.

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’ necropsy released. 

However, scientists were deeply disturbed by what they found in the animals’ stomachs. According to a press release from 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 plastic litter. 

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’s shocking disregard for marine life, which has resulted in an overabundance of plastic in the oceans. Said Robert Habeck, environment minister for the state of Schleswig-Holstein: 

“These findings show us the results of our plastic-oriented society. Animals inadvertently consume plastic and plastic waste, which causes them to suffer, and at worst, causes them to starve with full stomachs.”

Nicola Hodgkins of Whale and Dolphin Conservation echoed that statement. She stated: “Although the large pieces will cause obvious problems and block the gut, we shouldn’t dismiss the smaller bits that could cause a more chronic problem for all species of cetacean – not just those who suction feed.” 

This isn’t the first time a sperm whale has been found dead with innards full of inedible 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 100 plastic bags and other pieces of debris were found. It should be noted that the plastic is not what killed the young male sperm whales. 

According to National Geographic, they 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. Regardless, the fact that many of their stomachs were full of pollution is a horrible indictment of humans. As has been reported in the past, 80% of the plastic which is discarded on land ends up in the oceans, where it is consumed by wildlife or swirls for years in great garbage patches. 

The fact that mankind – a species with a smaller brain than a whale – is responsible for such a travesty is ironic and saddening.

Until humans learn the value of living sustainably while respecting all life forms, travesties such as this one will continue to take place. What are your thoughts? Please comment and share this news! 

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21-Year-Old Inventor is Launching A Massive Ocean Cleaning System

Thanks to Dutch inventor Boyan Slat, the worlds largest ocean clean up is due to launch next year!

By Kirsten Cowart via EWAO

After a year of research and working with a team of around 100 people, Boyan Slat gave his long-anticipated sequel to his 2012 TEDx Talk in New York to present the results of his plan to solve the oceans plastic pollution problem.  

For many years, humans have decided that it was a good idea to dump or allow the trash from our daily lives to float out into the ocean.  Since much of our oxygen and life sustaining cycles start with the health of the ocean it has become a problem that we must address in order to preserve ourselves and future generations.

The Problem with Plastic Pollution.  

• Millions of tons of plastic have entered the oceans (UNEP 2005)
• Plastic concentrates in five rotating currents, called gyres (Maximenko et al., 2012)
• In these gyres, there is on average six times more plastic than zooplankton by dry weight (Moore et al., 2001)

8 million tons of plastic is introducing into our life-giving ocean every single year. Jambeck et al., 2015)  Much of this plastic is carried by ocean currents and has been accumulating in 5 major areas.  

Around 5.25 trillion plastic pieces are floating around in our oceans.  (Eriksen et al., 2014)  One Third of the plastic is concentrated in what has been named the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. (Cózar et al., 2014)  

That means that in the middle of the ocean there is a floating island of trash.  If we don’t do something soon, such as this clean up system then there will continue to be consequences.  

The Environment

100 thousand marine mammals and 1 million seabirds die every single year because of the plastic pollution. (Laist, 1997) The longer term survival of at least 100 different species of animal including the Loggerhead Turtle and Hawaiian Monk Soal depends on our ability to clean up the ocean plastic.  (Gall et al., 2015)(Derraik, 2002).

The plastic is also threatening various natural ecosystem and is carrying harmful and invasive species.  (Barnes, 2005)

Our Economy In our world, the plastic pollution is causing around $13 billion of damage every year to the fishing, shipping, tourism and local clean up industries. (UNEP 2014)  The US West Coast is spending around $500 million every year just to clean up the beaches.  To clean up the beaches, it costs anywhere from $1,500 to $25,000 per ton of trash. (APEC 2009)

Our Health

PCB and DDT are toxic chemicals that are absorbed and concentrated around a million times in the oceans plastic.  (Mato et al., 2001)  Unfortunately, the plastic and toxins are eaten by the wildlife and causing fish and other sea animals to become toxic and sick.  (Tanaka et al., 2013)  Even the fish we eat could easily be poisoned which will increase our person risk of malformation, impaired reproductive systems, and cancer.  (Takada, oceanhealthindex.org)
Check out this awesome and revolutionary plastic clean up system that Boyan Slat created in the video below. 

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By Kirsten Cowart via EWAO

McDonald’s Just Recalled 1 Million Chicken Nuggets. The Reason Why Will Sicken You

Disgusting...

If you haven't heard about what's been going on with McDonald's, particularly in Japan allow me to enlighten you.

Customers in Japan were unpleasantly surprised by finding bits of blue plastic in an order of McNuggets and in another incident a human tooth in fries.

Seriously, this really happened.

McDonald's has aplogized and recalled 1 million chicken McNuggets as a result.

“We deeply apologize for the trouble we have caused our customers and we are taking quick measures to analyze the cause of the contamination,” explained McDonald's spokes person Takashi Hasegasa.

Naturally, this has led to a MAJOR drop in McDonalds sales, according to CNN.

McDonald’s is trying to make up for it with discounts, special prize giveaways, and new nuggets made of tofu. But it seems people tend to dislike finding human teeth in their food and are going else where.

In spite of all this, which is undoubtedly disgusting, McDonalds (like other fast food places) is one of those places where you get the service that you pay for. It is a poor quality of food which is fairly common knowledge today.

Upon hearing that human teeth and plastic was found in their food, I personally was not surprised at all. It's expected from a company that has no true concern for health only profit.

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