Whale sharks could be swallowing 137 pieces of plastic an hour because the surface waters where they feed are so contaminated, a study has found.
The biggest fish, which can reach 12m (40ft) long and weigh 40 tonnes, ingest hundreds of cubic metres of water a day and filter it to extract tiny plankton.
Scientists used fine nets to gather samples and measure the amount of plastic in the inshore surface water off Indonesia, where whale sharks and manta rays gather to feed.
They used these measurements to estimate how much plastic big filter feeders were likely to be consuming.
The study says reef manta rays could take in up to 63 pieces of plastic per hour of feeding in Nusa Penida and Komodo national
