Abstract

The stranding network of the Basque Country (SAREUS) attended a stranded juvenile female Kogia breviceps on Zarautz (Gipuzkoa, Spain) on 2 October 2025. The necropsy revealed severe pathological findings: (1) plastic and plant debris occupying most of the volume of the main stomach, (2) pulmonary congestion, pink froth in respiratory airways and presence of sand in the oesophagus, and (3) haemorrhagic liver and meninges together with serosanguineous liquid in the pericardium. Results indicate that the individual stranded alive and drowned because of a debilitated condition most likely caused by plastic and plant material ingestion. To understand what happened in the last days of the animal, and to identify behaviours that could lead to plastic ingestion, the stomach content was analysed, including the chemical characterization of the plastic debris through ATR-FTIR and the identification of vegetal and prey species. One possible explanation of the stranding event could have been that reduced foraging ability in a juvenile animal contributed to ingestion of foreign material, although this hypothesis cannot be confirmed from the available evidence.

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