43ft whale ‘takes a wrong turn’ and dies on UK beach
A HUGE sperm whale lies dead on the Northumberland shore, hundreds of miles from its normal deep-sea feeding grounds.
The 43ft-long whale was spotted in difficulty on Thursday, before becoming stranded on Friday when the tide went out. It died hours later.
Animal welfare experts said they were unable to transport such a large animal from the beach at Newbiggin-by-the-Sea back to its normal waters in such poor health.
A British Divers Marine Life Rescue spokesman said: ‘Sperm whales are a specialist deep-diving species that should not normally enter the North Sea as the depth is far too shallow and their usual prey of squid is very scarce.
‘It’s more than likely that in this case, it’s taken a wrong turn.
‘Experience and scientific evidence from sperm whales and other deep-diving whale species found stranded in this geographical region in the past have proven that these animals are almost always in poor nutritional condition, sometimes ill, and extremely unlikely to survive.
‘Were they to be refloated, then the prognosis would be incredibly poor and lead to an even more prolonged and distressing death for the animal.’
Experts said the sperm whale, a young male and not fully mature, weighed about 30 tons – more than two double-decker buses. Zoologists hope to carry out a post-mortem examination.
The whale’s death came only days after a humpback whale died in the Thames at Greenhithe in Kent, after it had been injured in a collision with a ship.
Last year, a beluga whale, nicknamed Benny, spent more than three months in the Thames but is thought to have made its way back out to sea.