A tale of heartbreak – a dead whale was found in the shores of the Philippines. Marine biologists are calling it the worst case of plastic ingestion.

A beaked whale washed up in the shores of Mabini, Compostela Valley, Philippines after dying of starvation and dehydration due to plastic ingestion.

Volunteers and marine biologists who examined the male Cuvier whale’s body were shocked after they found 40 kilos of plastic inside its body.

“I was not prepared for the amount of plastic. 40 kilos roughly of rice sacks, grocery bags, banana plantation bags, and general plastic bags. Sixteen rice sacks in total. It was so big, the plastic was beginning calcification,” said environmentalist, marine biologist, and founder of D’Bone Museum Darrell Blatchley in an interview with CNN Philippines.

Images from the 4.7-meter whale’s autopsy showed trash extracted from the animal’s stomach went viral online. According to Blatchley, it was the most number of plastics he has seen in a whale.

“The Philippine people are a proud people, sadly it’s not in being clean or taking care of the environment. In the last 10 years we have recovered 61 whales and dolphins, of which 57 have died due to fishing nets, dynamite fishing, and plastic garbage,” he said.

“Four were pregnant. This cannot continue. The Philippines needs to change from the children up or nothing will be left,” he also stated, adding that the government must take action against those who dump their waste in the waters.

Southeast Asia is one of the world’s biggest ocean polluters. In fact, a report by Ocean Conservancy claimed that the Philippines, China, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia have been dumping more plastic in the ocean compared to the rest of the world.

Just last year, a dead whale was found in Thailand after drying from ingested plastic were seen all over Asia news. A total of 80 plastic bags were found in its stomach.

Marine biologists also suggest that more or less 300 animals which include sea turtles, dolphins, and even pilot whales die in Thailand due to plastic. This just proves that Southeast Asia’s obsession over plastics needs to stop.