Ingested marine debris is believed to be a contributing factor in the death a 56-foot-long sperm whale . that was recently washed up on the reef fronting Lydgate Park on Kaua‘i .

Last weekend, heavy equipment was used to get the whale onto the beach where researchers from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Health and Stranding Lab, spent 15-hours trying to find clues about its death. Their initial examination of the whale was limited because of its immense size.

“A major finding was the number of manufactured items in the whale’s stomach,” said Dr. Kristi West, the Health and Stranding Lab Director in a press release. West continued, “In addition to squid beaks, fish skeletons and other prey remains, we found at least six hagfish traps and we also found significant amounts of at least seven types of fishing net, at least two types of plastic bags, a light protector, fishing line and a float from a net. We did find a number of things in the stomach of the sperm whale that may have contributed to its death and are certainly disturbing.”

Researchers looked for signs of abnormalities to the partial organs they examined, and no irregularities were initially observed, with the exception of the gastrointestinal tract. However, they collected a number of samples from different organ systems for follow-up testing, including disease screening.

UH researchers found what appears to be monofilament fishing line, with three flies tied to it, which suggests all of the pollutants the whale swallowed did not originate in the ocean but came from land as well. Massive, male sperm whales transit the ocean over thousands of miles, so there’s no way to tell where the materials originated.