PLASTIC bags mistaken for food in the water have been blamed for the death of Whitey, the infamous crocodile captured off Magnetic Island. Have your say! Authorities revealed Whitey died of starvation after 25 plastic shopping and garbage bags, a plastic wine cooler bag and a rubber float found in his stomach prevented him digesting food, reports The Courier Mail.

The 3.5m reptile hit the headlines after it was revealed the Government had moved him from Bamaga, on Cape York, in April to a crocodile habitat near the popular tourist setting of Magnetic Island as part of a satellite tracking program. Authorities who were planning to relocate him to a crocodile farm or zoo finally recaptured him with a harpoon following outrage from locals and scared tourists.

Queensland Parks and Wildlife executive director Alan Feely denied the harpooning of Whitey had contributed to his death, saying a necropsy had revealed the plastic in his stomach. "In this case the plastic bags have built up in his stomach and he has starved," he said. "When we got him he was pretty emaciated and there was evidence before then that he had not been acting normally." Mr Feely said the death should be a reminder to all about the impact rubbish had on animals.

Australian Seabird Rescue spokesman Keith Williams said wildlife living near built-up areas had a heightened risk from plastic but the damaging material was in all the world's oceans. "Whitey probably was picking up plastic long before Townsville," Mr Williams said. A Federal Government scientific committee on threatened species has found plastic bags and other debris are a direct threat to 20 marine species.

Meanwhile, Magnetic Islanders have held a rally in Alma Bay, demanding financial compensation from the Government, from revenue lost every day the croc was on the loose, causing beach closures and killing local tourism. Main speaker David Herron accused the EPA of causing the croc's death by unnecessarily moving it 1000km, reports the Townsville Bulletin.

"The organisation that cares for the environment, that levies enormous charges and fees, do what?," Mr Herron said. "They kill a community and (they) kill a crocodile. That's what they've done." More than 20 islanders, ranging from dive instructors to supermarket staff, are now unemployed because of the beach closures.

(By Rosemary Odgers and Brian Williams, News.com.au, 02/11/2008)