01/09/2006

Rescued whale found dead in Skegness

A whale rescued by experts from the Lincolnshire coast has been found dead on a beach near Skegness.

The whale, believed to be a northern bottlenose whale, was one of two whales found stranded on Thursday. The other whale died on Thursday afternoon, in spite of attempts to refloat them.

The whale was towed out to sea on Thursday night, but was found washed up on a beach on Skegness on Friday morning, alongside another whale.

Post-mortems were being carried out at the scene on Friday by scientists from the Zoological Society of London.

Experts believe that the whale had probably suffered from dehydration and stress due to being out of the water for many hours during the rescue attempt.

The northern bottlenose whale is normally found in the northern Atlantic in deep water.

(KMcA/SP)

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