Body Of Washed Up Mermaid Found With 40 Plastic Bags In Stomach

MARINE biologists in Waterford have found more than 40 plastic bags and other plastic waste materials inside the stomach of a washed up mermaid who was found on Tramore beach.

The Mermaid, who is believed to have been migrating south to warmer waters for the Winter at the time of death, got washed up on the beach following a hurricane last month, and appeared to have consumed a large amount of non-biodegradable waste.

“This is the fourth stranded mermaid to beach on an Irish shoreline so far this year,” said Dr. Kevin Stevenson, of the marine biological institute of Portlaw, “we believe she succumbed to the wild sea conditions during storm Ophelia, and was washed up a few days later on Tramore strand”.

“We cordoned off the scene after we heard that some locals began extracting the mermaid’s teeth for souvenir purposes,” he added, “thankfully the main torso was fully intact and we could do some investigating”.

Dr Stevenson’s team of researchers analysed the mermaid’s stomach, and found that the mermaid had very little blubber for the time of year and was emaciated, suggesting the plastic had lead it to become malnourished, and it is understood the intestines were also blocked up with plastic, causing severe pain.

At least 8 million tonnes of plastic ends up in the ocean every year.

“Mermaids have their own language and can even communicate with humans, which is what makes these cases so much harder to deal with,” said Stevenson, “because they’re a female-based species, many of them can’t resist a good shopping bag”.