November 13, 2013 — It is estimated that every year over 100,000 marine mammals die due in part to ingesting or getting stuck in human debris and trash. It may seem impossible for trash like plastic bags, fishing line, and other debris to kill a 45-ton animal like a sperm whale, something that is larger and heavier than a school bus, but it is occurring more and more frequently.
Imagine a sperm whale, a 60-foot, 45-ton behemoth that can dive down to around 3,300 feet in order to chase and find its favorite food source; squid. There have been records of this magnificent animal fighting and eating another of the world’s largest animals, Architeuthis dux, otherwise known as the giant squid.
Nearly 3,000 feet below the sun and waves, the sperm whale and giant squid fight for survival and food; the sperm whale biting and thrashing its massive tail and the squid chomping with its beak and tearing holes in the whales flesh with dinner plate sized suction cups lined with hooks. Here in the lightless waters below the phototropic zone, where the water pressure could crush a human body in mere seconds, these giant aquatic animals engage in an epic struggle of life and death that has been going on for centuries.
But now there is a much more dangerous problem than giant squids and sharks facing sperm whales and other marine mammals: Manmade marine debris.
It is estimated that every year over 100,000 marine mammals die due in part to ingesting or getting stuck in human debris and trash. It may seem impossible for trash like plastic bags, fishing line, and other debris to kill a 45-ton animal like a sperm whale, something that is larger and heavier than a school bus, but it is occurring more and more frequently.