Dog walkers' shock as they stumble upon 10ft-long dead whale

Dog walkers’ shock as they stumble upon 10ft-long dead whale washed up on Teesside beach

• Dead whale is found lying on the sand near a bird nesting ground this morning
• The whale is native the North Sea and at 10ft long it could have been quite young
• Dog walkers say that they were shocked to see the creature washed up on beach

Dog walkers were shocked when they saw a dead whale washed up on the beach this morning.

The whale was lying on the sand near a bird nesting ground and the area had been fenced off by officials straight away.

It is unclear what time the mammal, believed to be a Sowerby’s beaked whale, washed up on the shore, but it was there at 7am when dog walkers started visiting the beach. 

The whale is native the North Sea and at 10ft long the creature on the beach could have been quite young.

The whale was lying on the sand near to where the Little Tern bird nesting ground is and the area had been fenced off by officials straight away

Graeme Measor, who lives in Seaton Carew, said there are always lots of early morning dog walkers on the beach and they were shocked to see the creature. He said: ‘I was just walking the dogs. It was really sad to see such a beautiful and graceful creature dead on the beach like that.

‘But, they are native to the waters and it is nature I suppose. I have lived here 13 years and never seen a whale washed up before.’

Graeme, a 48-year-old university lecturer, said: ‘Whenever I see dead creatures washed up on the beach, I makes me wonder about pollution and if that’s killed them. I had a look around it and there didn’t seem to be any injuries on it.’

He said that when he saw it at around 9am this morning, the creature had been cordoned off and it was believed the authorities were coming down shortly to dispose of the body.

The Sowerby’s beaked whale, also known as the North Atlantic or North Sea beaked whale, is a species of toothed whale. It was the first mesoplodont whale to be described by James Sowerby, an English naturalist and artist in 1804. The young whale is born at between 8-9ft long and they can grow up to 18ft and weigh up to 2,900lb. Their diet consists of squid and small fish.

Graeme said when he saw it at around 9am this morning, the creature had been cordoned off and it was believed the authorities were coming down shortly to dispose of the body

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