Shocked Blue Planet viewers vow never to use plastic again

The short-finned pilot whale was seen carrying a dead calf, possibly to mourn it. Photo / BBC

Shocked Britons have vowed to ditch plastic bags and disposable straws after a heartbreaking scene in Sunday night's Blue Planet.

A pilot whale was filmed carrying her dead newborn baby around the ocean for days, reluctant to let go, after it was possibly poisoned by pollution in the oceans, the Daily Telegraph reports.

David Attenborough told viewers it was possible the calf was poisoned by its mothers own contaminated milk.

He said: "Today in the Atlantic waters they have to share the ocean with plastic. A mother is holding her newborn young - it's dead.

"Pilot whales have big brains, they can certainly experience emotions. Judging from the behaviour of the adults, the loss of the infant has affected the entire family.

"Unless the flow of plastics and industrial pollution into the ocean is reduced, marine life will be poisoned by them for many centuries to come.

"The creatures that live in the big blue are perhaps more remote than any other animal but not remote enough to escape the affects of what we are doing to their world."

After this, stricken viewers promised to ditch plastic.

Mother whale carrying her dead pup is just heart rending. And needless. Were it not for us wasteful humans. #blueplanet #plastic

— Emily Griffiths (@Emily_Griff) November 19, 2017

We humans don't deserve these lovely creatures #plastic #blueplanet pic.twitter.com/3gcT5yRXbL

— Annie Cricket (@AnnieCricket) November 19, 2017

We have to do something about plastic we need a plastic revolution #BluePlanet

— Mud Cakes and Wine (@mudcakesandwine) November 19, 2017

Assistant Blue Planet producer Sarah Conner told BBC Newsbeat "I have seen dead birds with their legs entangled in plastic bags, so they could have died from not being able to feed or fly.

"I saw a dead leatherback turtle that died from entanglement in fishing rope."

Camera operator Rafa Herrero Massieu told of how the crew had to rescue an entangled humpback whale off British Colombia, which was trailing almost a kilometre of ropes from fishing pots, and was struggling to swim.

"The crew stayed with the whale for nine hours, until all the rope was removed by the rescue team and the whale was free once more," says camera operator Rafa.

"The most difficult thing was to deal with our emotions, because we could feel the great sadness that the pilot whales transmitted."