Tue 08 November 2022:
A new study has claimed that whales are the largest consumers of plastic waste on earth right now as they end up consuming millions of such particles in a single day. The study included blue, fin and humpback whales and took into account the different natural habitats spread across the world.
According to the study, blue whales end up consuming over 10 million plastic pieces in a day which means that during the feeding season, they can end up consuming over 230 kg of plastic. Depending on how polluted the surrounding is, the report claimed that the total consumption can cross 500 kg.
“What we found was surprising – really high numbers of daily plastic ingestion,” Dr Shirel Kahane-Rapport, at California State University, Fullerton, who led the study said.
“We imagine that it will have some sort of impact but we don’t know the exact health effects. This is the first step to figuring that out,” she added while explaining the findings in the report.
The main objective of the study is to understand the current situation where whales are directly getting impacted by pollution. According to the researchers involved in the study, the data will play a crucial role in understanding and developing the future plan to make the habitat better for the whales.
“Whales feeding in those areas certainly might be at greater risk than off the coast here in the western US,” said Dr Matthew Savoca, at Stanford University, told The Guardian.
“It’s a sad story about whales, but also it’s a story about us. Whether it’s cod or salmon or other fish, they are eating those same fish that the humpback whales are eating,” he added.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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