A pregnant sperm whale has washed ashore in Sardinia with 22kg of plastic in its stomach, alongside its dead foetus. This is the second incident of its kind. Last month we reported the whale that washed ashore in the Philippines.

The latest whale carcass was found near to Porto Cervo, a popular tourist spot. The plastic contents of its stomach included items such as rubbish bags, fishing nets, plastic plates and a bag of washing detergent.

According to Sky News, the 6ft carcass has been winched away to be examined by non-profit organisation SEAME Sardinia. The organisation will determine the reason for death.

Carcass being removed for examination. Pic courtesy of SEAME Sardinia

The organisation’s president Luca Bittau told Sky News  “Plastic in the oceans is a huge problem, we can remove the plastic in the surface but we can’t do anything about the plastic at the bottom of the oceans.”