A young whale that washed up on a beach in the Philippines starved to death because it had eaten so much plastic in the ocean that it could no longer ingest enough of its regular food.

"I was not prepared for the amount of plastic," Marine biologist and environmentalist Darrell Blatchley said.  "Roughly 40 kilos of rice sacks, grocery bags, banana plantation bags and general plastic bags.  Sixteen rice sacks in total."

Dr. Blatchley is president of D'Bone Collector Museum, which recovered the remains of Cuvier's Beaked Whale east of Davao City and performed a necropsy.  Some of the bags that blocked the whale's ability to absorb nutrients had been inside its stomach long enough to begin to calcify.  Because whales don't drink sea and get their water needs from the foods they eat, the whale showed signs of dehydration as well.

The museum's Facebook post over the weekend partially read, "This whale had the most plastic we have ever seen in a whale.  It's disgusting.  Action must be taken by the government against those who continue to treat the waterways and ocean as dumpsters."

Advocates around the world are echoing that sentiment.  The latest incident highlights the "cruel global crisis that marine debris is presenting to wildlife", according to Mark Simmonds, senior marine scientist at Humane Society International.  "Efforts must be stepped up worldwide to reduce plastics pollution in our oceans or this kind of tragedy may become far more common in the future," he added.

Last June, a Pilot Whale in Thailand died after swallowing 80 plastic bags. 

The UK government last year warned that the level of plastic in the ocean could triple in a decade unless steps are taken to curb litter.