Authorities investigating the tragic death of a 40ft fin whale which washed up at Holland-on-Sea, believe the juvenile was hit by a ship and suffered a punctured lung.
The sad discovery of the world’s second largest mammal was found on Friday, May 29, with hundreds of people heading out to the beach near Clacton following the reports.
More: Giant 40ft fin whale washes up on beachPolice, council members and ocean authorities worked together to remove the carcass from the water’s edge in Holland-on-Sea, with the beach cordoned off to the public for the remainder of the day and the whale’s body removed on Saturday.
More: Washed up whale removed from Clacton beachRory Sinclair, CEO of The Big Ocean Cleanup, said: “The Zoological Society of London took some samples before the whale was sadly cut up.
“We believe the whale was hit by a commercial ship and a bone punctured the whales lung.”
The beach was closed for four miles between Holland-on-Sea and Jaywick to ensure members of the public were not at risk of infection, as The British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDLMR) warned may be the case if people came into contact with the whale.
A second dead whale washed up on a beach in our region just two days later – this time the remains of a decomposed baby whale turned up at Southwold.
The body was found by former Southwold mayor Simon Tobin during a walk on Sunday morning along the beach near the harbour and Lord Nelson pub.
A section of the beach was cordoned off while coastguard teams removed the remains.
The Big Ocean Cleanup said they were not involved in the removal of the baby whale.
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