Whale killed by ingesting rubbish found off Spanish coast

MAN-made rubbish – including a drum – has caused the death of a whale found off a Spanish coast.

The young sperm whale, discovered near Cabo de Palos in Murcia, died from its inability to digest the rubbish causing Peritonitis, an inflammation of its internal organs.

An autopsy, conducted by the El Valle Wildlife Rescue Centre, found 29kgs of waste including plastic bags, ropes, fishing nets and even a drum.

Murcia’s Environment Minister Consuelo Rosauro said: “The presence of plastics in seas and oceans is one of the biggest threats to the conservation of wildlife in the world.”

Every year some 19 billion pounds of plastic waste ends up in the world’s oceans.