Female sperm whale dies after becoming the SEVENTH giant creature to wash up on British shores this year

  • Huge 40ft sperm whale has died after becoming stranded on British beach
  • The female was discovered at the popular Perranporth beach in Cornwall
  • Marine specialists were unable to refloat the stricken mammal on Sunday
  • It becomes the seventh whale to be found washed up on shores in 2016

By Abe Hawken For Mailonline and Andy Dolan for the Daily Mail

Published: | Updated:

A huge 40ft sperm whale has died after becoming stranded on a popular British beach. 

The female was discovered on her side in the shallows at Perranporth beach in Cornwall when the tide went out on Sunday. 

Marine specialists were unable to refloat the stricken mammal and it stopped breathing after rescuers attempted to prevent it drying out by pouring sea water over its body.

The grim discovery makes it the seventh sperm whale to be found washed up on British shores this year.

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A huge 40ft sperm whale has died after becoming stranded on a popular British beach in Cornwall 

A huge 40ft sperm whale has died after becoming stranded on a popular British beach in Cornwall 

The huge mammal has become the seventh sperm whale to be found washed up on a UK shore this year

The huge mammal has become the seventh sperm whale to be found washed up on a UK shore this year

Horrified bystanders looked on in disbelief as the giant mammal remained on the sand as the tide went out.  

Dave Jarvis, from British Divers Marine Life Rescue, said the animal's internal organs may have been crushed by the pressure of its body weight while out of the water. 

He said: 'The animal is not used to feeling its own body weight before because it floats.'

Perranporth beach is one of the most popular in Cornwall and attracts surfers and families during the busy holiday season.

Mr Jarvis and his team found the whale at around 1pm and he said it stopped breathing almost two hours later.

He added: 'When they are lying on their sides they cannot breathe properly because all the blood goes into their lungs. 

'It could just have got lost, or if it's ill then the tide could have pushed it along if they are not swimming particularly strongly.'

Abby Crosby, from the Cornwall Wildlife Trust, said she believed it was the first time a sperm whale had been beached in the UK since six of the animals were found washed up in Norfolk and Lincolnshire in January and February. 

Marine specialists were unable to refloat the stricken mammal and it stopped breathing after rescuers attempted to prevent it drying out by pouring sea water over its body

Marine specialists were unable to refloat the stricken mammal and it stopped breathing after rescuers attempted to prevent it drying out by pouring sea water over its body

A post-mortem examination will be carried out on the whale to see if it was already ill before becoming stuck on the beach

A post-mortem examination will be carried out on the whale to see if it was already ill before becoming stuck on the beach

A post-mortem examination will be carried out on the whale to see if it was already ill before becoming stuck on the beach.  

Over six weeks from mid-January, 29 sperm whales died on beaches in the Netherlands, France, Germany and Britain.

Sperm whales - which can grown up to 50ft long and weigh up to 15,000kg - are extremely rare in Cornwall. 

The latest discovery comes after a 30-tonne corpse was discovered five miles from Skegness, Lincolnshire, in January.

A build-up of methane gas caused one of the whales to explode as marine biologists carrying out a post-mortem examination cut at its skin and blubber, with shocked witnesses describing a bang and a 'huge blast of air' followed by a foul stench.

It came as security guards were brought in to stop scavengers attacking the corpses for trophies after anti-nuclear campaigners graffitied at least one of the giant carcasses. 

SPERM WHALES: THE FACTS 

· The distinctive box-like heads are the largest of any animal

· Also the largest brain of any creature to have lived on Earth

· They can dive as deep as 10,000ft in search of squid to eat but average dives are 4,000ft

· The mammals hold their breath for up to 90 minutes on the long dives

· They eat around one tonne of fish per day

· Their heads hold large quantities of a substance called spermaceti, the purpose of which is unknown

· A sperm whale's life expectancy is 50 to 70 years.

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