CONTRARY to earlier reports, there were no traces of plastics inside the stomach of a dead whale in Panabo City.
D’Bone Collector Museum director Darrell Blatchey, on his Facebook account on Thursday, August 1, said the female Cuvier Beaked Whale that was found dead at the coastline of Cagangohan in Panabo City on Wednesday, did not die due to garbage ingestion.
The whale has an estimated size of 18 to 19 feet and an estimated age between 30 to 40 years old.
Prior to the Blatchey's conducted necropsy, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR)-Davao Director Fatma Idris, in a text message, said the whale's death is "garbage related".
Blatchley, however, said, "There was one mangrove seed pod, one piece of drift wood same size as the seed, and one squid beak. That was all. So dehydration is not ruled out."
Meanwhile, he told SunStar Davao through Facebook Messenger, that the cause of the whale's death is still uncertain.
He said sample of the internal organs and meat were already sent to Manila for further analysis.
Although he said he is "happy to say it wasn't plastic," but he is saddened that the whale is no longer swimming in the ocean.
The female Cuvier Beaked Whale's death is now the sixth recorded case in the region this year.
Meanwhile, the earlier cases to have died due to plastic ingestion, which according to Blatchley said is an alarming situation.
Interfacing Development Interventions for Sustainability (Idis) policy advocacy officer Raine Catague said the group is exerting efforts for the passage of the banning of Single-use Plastic Ordinance.
“Saddened mi sa duha ka namatay na whale, especially atong victim na naman sa plastic ingestion (We are saddened by the deaths of the two whales, especially the one who died due to plastic ingestion),” Catague told Sunstar Davao in a text message.
She also said Idis already forwarded their position paper to the City Council committee on environment and natural resources headed by Councilor Diosdado Mahipus, Jr.
Catague said they hope the ordinance will take effect within the year.