A statement by an anonymous whistleblower, tabled in federal parliament by the independent senator David Pocock, described witnessing a 25,000L spill of condensate – a light form of oil – near the Lowendal Islands in March last year.

The statement said dead dolphins, including a pup, were found “floating in dense sections of the oil spill” caused by a tear in a subsea hose that was connected to an oil tanker being loaded from Santos’ Varanus Island gas plant. Pocock also tabled photos showing oil in the water and dolphins floating belly-up in the sea with a tanker in the background.