British Divers Marine Life Rescue received a call on Good Friday about a large, stranded whale on the beach at Cleethorpes near Grimsby. The animal had been seen upright in the water, but by the time rescuers arrived on the scene, it was stranded on its side. The charity, along with HM Coastguard and Cleethorpes beach safety team, were able to make a positive identification of the animal to keep the public safe. However, as the tide was rising quickly, there was no way for BDMLR medics to safely access the whale, and eventually, it became submerged. The safety team was able to show the medics CCTV footage of the whale before it went under, and it appeared that the animal had passed away.
The BDMLR believes that the whale was likely a male, as it is uncommon for female sperm whales to be found this far north. The only known recording of a female sperm whale in the UK was in 2016. Sperm whales are the largest toothed whales, reaching up to 16 meters in length.
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