Blue whales, the largest creatures on Earth, ingest an estimated 10 million pieces—or about 95 pounds—of microplastic daily, according to research published in Nature Communications. 

Most of these plastic particles come from their diet of krill, which consume plastic both directly and indirectly by filtering seawater contaminated with microplastics. In other words, “krill eat plastic, and whales eat krill.”

“It’s a sad story about whales, but also about us…,” said Dr. Matthew Savoca of Stanford University, a member of the research team.

For more about the research, please read “How much microplastic do whales eat? Up to 10 million pieces per day, Stanford research finds.”

The blue plastic whale below was found on the beach in Carlsbad, CA.