Plastic bags, fishing net found in stomach of dead whale in Taiwan

Taiwanese marine biologists over the weekend conducted an autopsy and discovered a mass of plastic bags and fishing net in the stomach of a dead whale, underlying the dangers posed by floating ocean trash.

"But... the large amount of man-made garbage in the stomach could reduce its appetite and cause malnutrition. It was likely a critical cause of death, " Professor Wang Chien-ping, head of the whale research centre at National Cheng-Kung University told AFP.