Adult female sperm whale found washed up on shore

A dead whale found washed up on a beach in north Wales was an adult female, experts have said.

Abersoch Coastguard Rescue Team announced the sighting of the mammal at Porth Neigwl, also known as Hell's Mouth, Gwynedd, on Monday morning.

It is the second whale to have washed up onto a UK beach in two days.

Experts said the whale was very poorly and underweight when it became stranded and have urged people to stay clear of the carcass as an autopsy is planned.

The rescue team said after locating it, it had directed a team from British Divers Marine Life Rescue to the cliff top who confirmed the whale was dead.

The whale is about 10m (32ft) long and weighs 10 tonnes.

Wales co-ordinator of the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme, Mat Westfield, said the whale was very underweight and appeared as if it had not eaten for some time.

He said: "It was very poorly when it washed up. The first reports were that it was still alive at that point but it quickly died."

A post-mortem examination will be carried out at the scene on Wednesday.

Mr Westfield said they were working with Gwynedd Council and the coastguards to remove the carcass. 

In the meantime the coastguard warned: "Please do not attempt to approach the whale as this part of the beach is fully cut off at high tide and any contact will impair the valuable results to be gained from a full autopsy."

In 2019, a young sperm whale was found washed up on the same beach. Experts believed it was the first time a sperm whale calf had been stranded on Welsh shores.

Monday's sighting follows the discovery of a dead minke whale on North Berwick beach in East Lothian, Scotland on Sunday morning.

Further north, a dead humpback whale was found on a sand bank at Loch Fleet nature reserve in the Scottish Highlands on Friday.