Whale found dead in Thailand waters had 80 plastic bags in stomach

A whale that died in waters in southern Thailand this week had swallowed 80 plastic bags.

The pilot whale was found by Thailand’s marine authorities struggling to swim in the Na Thap Canal, north of the Malaysian border, on Monday.

Environmental officials then used boats to keep the animal afloat and nursed it for several days.

Despite their efforts, the whale vomited five plastic bags during the rescue attempt and then died on Friday.

After its death, authorities extracted 80 of the bags in total from its stomach, weighing around eight kilograms.

Marine biologist Thon Thamrongnawasawat told the Agence France-Presse media organisation that the bags had made it impossible for the whale to eat the nutritional food it needed to survive.

"If you have 80 plastic bags in your stomach, you die," he said.

Thailand is a major user of plastic bags, despite calls for a government-imposed levy on them, and hundreds of marine animals are believed to die in waters off the country each year.

The whale’s death also comes less than a month before Australian supermarkets will stop giving out free plastic bags when shoppers buy groceries