Although there is extensive oil exploration activity offshore Brazil, authorities have ruled out that as the source of the spill.

The danger of plastics in our ocean is a growing threat, and now a new study has estimated that by 2050, 99 per cent of seabirds will have consumed some sort of plastics from our oceans.

The chemical that caused the deaths of thousands of seabirds in the UK earlier this year has been banned from being dumped at sea.