Study: Lethal plastic trash now common in region's whales

摘要

A study of whales and dolphins that have washed up dead in Greece over a 20-year period has found alarminglyhigh levels of plastic trash - mostly bags - in the animals' stomachs, which can condemn them to a slow andpainful death.In the worst case, a researcher said today, a 17-foot young sperm whale beached on the Aegean island ofMykonos had swallowed 135 plastic items weighing a total of 7 pounds. This blocked its stomach, grosslydistending it, while the animal itself was emaciated and had starved to death.