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By the time marine biologist Darrell Blatchley arrived at the fishing village on Saturday, the young Cuvier's beaked whale was already floating, dead in the water, its eyes sunken and ribs protruding through its skin. The current off the southern Philippine island of Mindanao had washed away the blood it vomited before its death.

He already knew how the 4.5 metre-long whale had died.

40 kilograms of plastic bags were found inside a whale found dead in the Philippines. Credit:Facebook/D' Bone Collector Museum Inc.

"I knew this whale had died due to plastic ingestion," Blatchley, president and founder of the D' Bone Collector Museum said, noting that the animal showed telltale signs of dehydration and emaciation. "I was not prepared for the amount of plastic."