Marine Debris, Plastic Waste Inside Beached Sperm Whale in Indonesia

Summary: One thousand pieces of plastic filled the stomach and felled the beached sperm whale found on Kapita Island, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia, Nov. 19, 2018.

some of the plastic waste and other garbage in the stomach of the deceased sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) washed ashore on Kapota Island, southeastern Sulawesi: WWF-Indonesia @WWFIndonesia, via Facebook Nov. 19, 2018

Marine debris and 1,000 pieces of plastic waste abound in the beached sperm whale that appeared Nov. 19, 2018, on the Indonesian archipelago's Kapota Island near Wakatobi National Park, Southeast Sulawesi Province.

Plastics pollution barred 1-ton (0.91-tonne) daily live-food requirements; blocked and bothered internal muscles, organs and tissues; brought about dehydration and starvation from false senses of satiety. Dwarf, giant and pygmy sperm whale carcasses continue floating like dead bowhead, gray and right whales and unlike sinking blue, Bryde's, fin, minke and sei whales. The 31.17-foot (9.5-meter) beached sperm whale displayed 13.23 pounds (6 kilograms) of raffia rope; ripped tarpaulins; two flip-flops; four plastic bottles; 25 plastic bags; 115 cups.

The Mammalia (from Latin mamma, "breast [feeding]") warm-blooded class member expects cod; crabs; cuttlefish; lantern fish; lobster; long-nosed skate; nautilus; octopus; rays; redfish; sharks; shrimp; squid.

Sixty- to 70-year-old life expectancies furnish the Cetacea (from Greek κῆτος, kētos, "sea monster") order member with northern and southern hemisphere mating, gestating and birthing seasons.

The Odontoceti (from Greek ὀδούς, odoús, "tooth" and κῆτος, kētos, "sea monster") toothed whale suborder member gets January through August northerly, July through March southerly matings. Fourteen-plus-month Physeteridae (from Greek φυσητήρ, phusētér, "blowpipe") sperm whale family cow gestations harvest  9.84- to 13.12-foot (3- to 4-meter), 440.92- to 661.39-pound (200- to 300-kilogram) calves. Physically and sexually mature 26- to 30-foot (8- to 9-meter) seven- to 12-year-old females increase 10- to 30-member pods by one calf each every six years.

Males juggle 44.09-pound (20-kilogram) daily milk intake as tail-first, temporarily hairy, underwater newborns through two-year-olds and seafood-eaters as one-year-olds until joining all-male bachelor pods as six-year-olds.

Sperm whales, known in 1758 to Carl Linnaeus (May 23, 1707-Jan. 10, 1778), keep male physical and sexual maturity for 40-plus-foot (12-plus-meter) 17- to 20-plus-year olds.

Sperm whales, labeled Physeter macrocephalus (big-headed blowpipe) scientifically, look smaller as females with 34.12- to 41.01-foot (10.4- to 12.5-meter), 26,455.47- to 52,910.94-pound (12,000- to 24,000-kilogram) maximums. Male sperm whales maximize 19.84-pound (9-kilogram) brains; plate-sized eyes; 49.21-foot (15-meter) heads; 52.49- to 68.89-foot (16- to 21-meter) lengths; 99,208.02- to 125,663.49-pound (45,000- to 57,000-kilogram) weights. Adults net barrel-shaped, smooth-skinned, squared-off heads; white-lipped mouths; flapless, tiny ear holes; light-bellied black-, blue-, brown-gray wrinkled bodies; paddle-shaped flippers; smooth-skinned flukes; 9.84-foot (3-meter) hourly speeds.

Adult sperm whales offer 10 to 20 unerupted teeth per upper-jaw side and 17 to 29 peglike, 2.21-plus-pound (1-plus-kilogram), 7.87-inch- (20-centimeter-) long teeth per lower-jaw side.

Sperm whales perform 90-minute dives through 9,842.52-plus-foot (3,000-plus-meter) depths and prefer body and surface-water temperatures at 91.4 and 60-plus degrees Fahrenheit (33 and 15-plus degrees Celsius).

Sperm whales queue up in their intestines ambergris, waxy-black perfume base, enhancer and stabilizer, and in their heads spermaceti, waxy-white candle, cosmetic, lubricant and polish ingredient. They range from temperate and tropical waters above canyons, shelves and slopes as females and juveniles into Antarctic, Arctic, pack-ice and shallow waters as solitary males. They send out two and 30 to 60 clicks per second for echolocation and communication and 22.97-foot (7-meter) high, 45-degree water-vapor columns from lopsided, S-shaped blowholes.

Age; earthquakes; injurious giant squids, killer whales, people, people's possessions and sharks; pollution; ruptured eardrums; shifting sandbanks; sickness; storms turn sperm whales into beached sperm whales.

A deceased sperm whale, found with its stomach filled with plastic waste, washed ashore on Kapota Island, near Indonesia's Wakatobi National Park, southeastern Sulawesi: BBC News @bbcnews, via Facebook Nov. 20, 2018

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

some of the plastic waste and other garbage in the stomach of the deceased sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) washed ashore on Kapota Island, southeastern Sulawesi: WWF-Indonesia @WWFIndonesia, via Facebook Nov. 19, 2018, @ https://www.facebook.com/WWFIndonesia/photos/a.10151928999164311/10157344721259311/

A deceased sperm whale, found with its stomach filled with plastic waste, washed ashore on Kapota Island, near Indonesia's Wakatobi National Park, southeastern Sulawesi: BBC News @bbcnews, via Facebook Nov. 20, 2018, @ https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews/posts/10156279898617217

For further information:

BBC News @bbcnews. 20 November 2018. "115 drinking cups, four plastic bottles, 25 plastic bags and two flip-flops were found inside the sperm whale's stomach." Facebook.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews/posts/10156279898617217

Linnaeus, Caroli. 1758. "38.1. Physeter catodon." Systema Naturæ per Regna Tria Naturæ, Secundum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, cum Characteribus, Differentiis, Synonymis, Locis. Tomus I, Editio Decima, Reformata: 76. Holmiae [Stockholm, Sweden]: Laurentii Salvii [Laurentius Salvius].
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/726981

Linnaeus, Caroli. 1758. "38.1. Physeter macrocephalus." Systema Naturæ per Regna Tria Naturæ, Secundum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, cum Characteribus, Differentiis, Synonymis, Locis. Tomus I, Editio Decima, Reformata: 76. Holmiae [Stockholm, Sweden]: Laurentii Salvii [Laurentius Salvius].
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/726981

The New York Times @nytimes. 21 November 2018. "Ingesting plastic can give whales a false sense of satiation, leading them to eat less food that provides the nutrients they need, said an official of an environmental nonprofit." Facebook.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/nytimes/posts/10151755587164999

Singh, Akshay Pratap. 21 November 2018. "Dead Sperm Whale in Indonesia Found with 6 Kg of Plastic in Stomach." Voqi > Life Style.
Available @ https://voqi.in/dead-sperm-whale-in-indonesia-found-with-6-kg-of-plastic-in-stomach/

Taylor, Jessica. 21 November 2018. "Indonesian Whale Washes Up On Shore with Six Kilos of Plastic in Its Stomach." Evening Standard > Future London > The Plastic-Free Project.
Available @ https://www.standard.co.uk/futurelondon/theplasticfreeproject/whale-washes-up-on-indonesian-shore-with-6-kilos-of-plastic-in-stomach-a3993566.html

Weilgart, Lindy. "Sperm Whale: Physeter macrocephalus." In: Michael Hutchins, Devra G. Kleiman, Valerius Geist and Melissa McDade, eds. Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. Second edition. Volume 15, Mammals IV: 70. Farmington Hills MI: Gale Group, 2003.

WWF-Indonesia @WWFIndonesia. 19 November 2018. "Added a new photo." Facebook.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/WWFIndonesia/photos/a.10151928999164311/10157344721259311/