Pilot whale dies after swallowing more than 80 plastic bags: 'Still going to dump trash?'
A pilot whale died in Thailand last week after consuming more than 17 pounds of plastic waste, according to Thailand's Department of Marine and Coastal Resources.
The sick pilot whale was discovered in a canal near Thailand's border with Malaysia last week, Reuters reported. While receiving treatment from a team of veterinarians, the whale vomited five plastic bags, the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources said in a Facebook post.
An autopsy later revealed 80 plastic bags and other plastic debris in the whale's stomach, Reuters reported.
Photos posted on the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources Facebook page, show dozens of bags pulled from the whale's stomach.
The department wrote "ask your heart to see if you're still going to dump the trash," in the post.
Jatuporn Buruspat, head of the department, told Reuters the pilot whale likely thought the plastic bags were food, and after eating the bags became sick and unable to hunt for food.
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