The sperm whale died on the English coast with a plastic sheet in his stomach

A sperm whale, the largest whale found dead and washed up a beach in Wales, England. An autopsy revealed that there were plastic plates and other sea debris in its stomach.

The sperm whale 22 feet long (6.7m) drifted near Abersoch, Gwynedd last week and was the first sperm whale to drift off the coast of Wales in more than 100 years.

The sperm whale just found dead and drifted on a beach in Wales, England.

Experts from the British Cetacean Fiber Investigation Program and the London Zoological Society (ZSL) conducted an autopsy and suggested that the animal was malnourished and weighed below the minimum. They were puzzled when the sperm whale made their way to such shallow water, because the fish usually live in deeper water, the climate is hotter and they often hunt large squid.

Rob Deaville, ZSL, said a large piece of blue plastic and a relatively large block of rope were found in the fish's stomach, which may have affected the fish's ability to digest. There is no new food in the fish's stomach.

Investigators have found that it ingests large amounts of plastic waste.

This is the second small sperm whale ever recorded in the UK. Earlier, a 30-ton mourning fish was found dead near the Northumberland coast earlier this month.

Sally Hamilton, director of the whale and dolphin charity Orca, said: 'It is tragic to see these whale-like animals die right in front of our beach. Until we can reduce our dependence on plastic and stop the flow of pollution into the ocean, we will see many marine wildlife affected by this growing threat. '

1. Nearly 30kg of rubbish in the belly of a sperm whale washed up the coast
2. Sperm whales in Indonesia have 1,000 pieces of plastic in their bellies