On November 19 a team from Wakatobi National Park found 5.9 kilograms of plastic garbage inside the stomach of a dead sperm whale that had beached on Kapota Island, Southeast Sulawesi.

Although the team was unable to confirm whether the garbage was the cause of death because the body had already begun to decompose, they found 115 plastic cups (750 grams), 19 hard plastic pieces (140 grams), four plastic bottles (150 grams), 25 plastic bags (260 grams), six wood splinters (740 grams), two rubber sandals (270 grams), one nylon sack (200 grams) and more than 1,000 pieces of plastic rope (3,260 grams) in the whale’s stomach.

Indonesia produces some 187.2 million tonnes of plastic waste every year, making it the second biggest marine polluter in the world behind only China, with almost half ending up in the sea.

Although some regional governments have made half-hearted efforts to address the issue – which have generally received widespread public support – plastic and plastic recycling industries have resisted efforts to reduce plastic consumption claiming it would be too costly or result in job losses.