The whale’s grisly death brought renewed focus to the worldwide problem of plastics ending up in oceans; a 2015 study estimated that five million to 13 million metric tons of plastic waste pollute oceans each year. But the problem is particularly severe in the Philippines, the world’s third-biggest contributor of plastic to oceans behind China and Indonesia.

Joel Palma, the president and chief executive of the World Wide Fund for Nature in the Philippines, said there was no single factor causing the Philippines’ outsize plastic pollution. Single-use plastics are cheap and ingrained in the culture, recycling is difficult and there is a patchwork of local laws, among other challenges.

What is certain, he said, is the need to consume less.

“We’re wasting a lot more than we should be,” he said.

Hundreds of animal species are in danger when plastics end up in bodies of water, but whales tend to attract more interest because of the large quantities they can hold in their bodies. A whale found in Spain in February had 64 pounds of trash in its intestines and stomach. One found in Thailand in June 2018 had consumed 18 pounds of trash, while one found in Indonesia in November had ingested 13 pounds of plastics.