Dr. Roni King, a veterinarian for the Nature and Parks Authority, and a team from the Beit Dagan Veterinary Institute, on Sunday morning performed an autopsy on the carcass of a whale that was found on the shore of the Nitzanim Nature Reserve.
Materials derived from oil pollution were found in the autopsy and were transferred for testing.
Several beaches from Galilee to Ashkelon have been contaminated in the last few days with large amounts of tar from an unknown source. According to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, 16 coastal municipalities have experienced a severe oil spill resulting in a heavy layer of tar on their beaches.
The most likely explanation is the illegal dumping of oil from a vessel that was passing outside Israel’s territorial water (Oil Spill Off Israel’s Coast Threatens Turtles, Snails, Birds and the Beach).