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Abstract
In 2008 two male sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) stranded along the northern
California coast with large amounts of fishing net scraps, rope, and other plastic
debris in their stomachs. One animal had a ruptured stomach, the other was emaciated,
and gastric impaction was suspected as the cause of both deaths. There were 134 different
types of nets in these two animals, all made of floating material, varying in size
from 10 cm(2) to about 16 m(2). The variability in size and age of the pieces suggests
the material was ingested from the surface as debris rather than bitten off from active
gear. These strandings demonstrate that ingestion of marine debris can be fatal to
large whales, in addition to the well documented entanglements known to impact these
species.
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