Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Tragic end for 50ft whale stranded in shallow waters
A 50ft sperm whale spotted off the east Kent coast sadly died after becoming stranded. The giant sea creature was first reported to the Coastguard on Thursday morning by staff at The Bubble Cafe, which overlooks Whitstable seafront. Assistant manager Charlotte Bambridge said: “He or she was quite close - sort of stuck in one position for quite a while.
“Then he moved slowly towards the harbour for about an hour, and he was spraying water in the air.”
The whale was later snapped near Seasalter, with an inquisitive seal looking on. It then began swimming with the rising tide into The Swale a tidal channel of the estuary.
Medics from the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) monitored the whale’s movements and behaviour, and described it as appearing “distressed and confused” when it found itself trapped in shallow waters. The whale continued to be monitored until it was found dead on Saturday morning. A BDMLR spokesman said the Cetacean Stranding Investigation Programme would work with Peel Ports and HM Coastguard to secure the body for examination. Peel Ports confirmed the whale carcass was just off the Sheppey shoreline, near
Fowley Island in The Swale, between Elmley and Harty. A vessel went out to the whale on Monday evening and towed it to ground.
The following morning a Peel Ports spokesman confirmed the carcass had been moved. “The whale is now within the port area,” he added, awaiting marine scientists to carry out a post-mortem.
A BDMLR spokesman said: “We do not know the sex of the whale but stranded sperm whales in the UK are nearly always male.
“There was case of a female stranding in Cornwall some years ago but that was very unusual.”
Sperm whales have distinctive features including prominent rounded foreheads, according to National Geographic, and the largest brain of any creature known to have lived on Earth.