An autopsy found plastic bags, nets, ropes, plastic sacks, and even a plastic jerrycan in the whale’s stomach and intestines.The headline pic on this page is a sculpture of a dead whale created for Greenpeace Phillippines on the beach of Naic, Cavite, South of Manila in May 2017. The Phillipines is the 3rd largest plastic polluter in the world and Greenpeace Philippines were seeking to underscore the massive problem of plastics pollution in the ocean. (3rd biggest or not - with this much plastic in one whale, it's easy to see how plastics pollution will outweigh marine life within the next 20 years if we don't stop.)The picture of the actual whale above wasn't generally shown on social media as these kinds of images often get taken down as offensive. We followed this line and we thought it was more important to get out the story than risk losing the message for the image. We wouldn't feed our household pets or farm animals plastic or rubbish, so why do we fill the oceans with it, feeding it to everything that lives there?Please don't buy plastic, especially if you don't need to. There are so many other easy, better options. (Remember that the single use plastic bag ban is now headed for all states except NSW so it's time to get yourself reusable bags - for shopping & produce if you haven't already.) And most importantly, secure your rubbish. Even if you don't want to do it for the planet, do it because you are human. This message from this whale's short life isn't just about his final end. As he ingested plastic over time, he would have been in increasing pain and starving. None of us would ever wish this on anyone.Greenpeace Australia is part of the global Greenpeace movement and you can contact them directly to volunteer or learn about their work.