Whale Meat Again

Its rare to find whales washed up on beaches but there have been two in eight months along the Northumberland Coast.

The minke whale found on Druridge Bay was not that much of a surprise as minke whales are often seen off the coast, sometimes in reasonably sized pods.


However, the Sperm Whale that was beached at Beadnell earlier this week was more of a surprise. Although not unique, they are unusual, being deep water animals more likely to be found in the Atlantic rather than in the relatively shallow waters of the North Sea. As a result, I thought it was a "must" to go and have a look myself, having seen the TV footage.

Arriving at Beadnell, it wasn't hard to find the corpse - just follow your nose - quite literally!!! After a few days ashore, together with some recent dental work from the Natural History Museum, the carcass is "maturing" and a trail of blood and tissue along the beach illustrated the gory mess created to thwart souvenir hunters. 

The smell gets worse as you approach the whale, a kind of smoky fatty smell that stays with you for some time. Certainly, many of the visitors were regretting their curiosity and perhaps the fish and chip suppers may reappear in due course


I was very sad to see such a magnificent animal in such a position. This individual is about 30 foot long and weighs, I am told, over 37 tons and its probably not fully grown. Whilst I would obviously prefer to see any animal in its natural environment, the opportunity to see a Sperm Whale is probably quite remote (although I have had a very close encounter with a Minke). 

As a result I was curious about the animal, fascinated to see the massive upper jaw, with it sharp teeth and serrated palate, the large distinctly notched flukes and the numerous deep gouges along the flanks and heads, perhaps indicitive of underwater struggles at some time during its life! 

For some reason, the penis is lying outside the genital slit - cue jokes about Moby Dick!!

Whether this individual is a stranding or a washed up corpse is uncertain. Its certainly provoked a lot of interest and with discussions underway about marine conservation zones, perhaps this was a timely occurrence? I would add that the dolphin found on Druridge Bay beach the same day, which would normally have been quite exciting, has almost been forgotten about. What it does show though, is that a wide range of cetaceans ARE found of the Northumberland Coast, we just don't notice them as often as we should.

Whilst there, I noted 2 bar-tailed godwit, 17 sanderling, a few redshank, 13 oystercatcher and 8 eider duck. A single wren shrieked from the dunes.


Driving home as night fell, I couldn't shake the images and that awful smell stayed with me for the entire trip, picking up 77 mute swans at QE2 lake on the way as the light disappeared. It was only when I got home that I realised my shoes were caked in Beadnell sand, complete with whale goo and that awful stench!



As a footnote, did this Sperm Whale have a taste for seal pups? Might that explain the headless seal pup corpses being washed up on the coast in recent weeks?