UK killer whale died with extreme levels of toxic pollutants

Adult whale Lulu was one of UK's last resident pod and had never produced a calf, probably because pollutants in her blubber had caused infertility

One of the highest concentrations of toxic pollutants ever recorded in a marine mammal has been revealed in a Scottish killer whale that died in 2016.

The adult whale, known as Lulu, was a member of the UK's last resident pod and a postmortem also showed she had never produced a calf. The pollutants, called PCBs, are known to cause infertility and these latest findings add to strong evidence that the pod is doomed to extinction.