Whale stranded in Thames Estuary died 'on empty stomach', marine experts reveal

A sperm whale stranded in the River Thames died on an empty stomach, marine experts have revealed.

The 12.44m-long mammal hit the headlines last week after being spotted in the Swale tidal channel in Kent.

The teenage male was stranded for three days unable to escape before dying over the weekend. experts from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) have since examined his body.

The Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP) worked through the night at Peel Ports London Medway, dissecting and collecting samples in an attempt to find out how the deep-water mammal had reached Kent, how long he had managed to survive in the Thames Estuary, and help improve future conservation efforts.

They found he showed “no evidence of recent feeding” and died starving, with an empty stomach devoid of squid beaks - the sperm whale’s main food source.

ZSL’s Rob Deaville, CSIP Project Manager, said the lack of food found in the whale’s stomach suggested the animal may have been in the southern North Sea for a long period.

He said: "The findings are consistent with live stranding of an out of habitat individual.

“Sperm whales are normally found resident in much deeper waters, and the southern North Sea can be considered an abnormal habitat for the species as they are unable to feed there.”

The experts also noted the whale had not ingested any marine debris or plastics, in a positive sign for the Thames Estuary’s plastic pollution levels.

A sperm whale was previously last sighted in the Thames Estuary in 2014, according to ZSL, but there have been a series of unusual large mammals appearing in the Thames over the past 18 months.

A beluga whale nicknamed “Benny the Beluga” by fans was spotted near Gravesend, Kent, in September 2018 and stayed for months before vanishing, and last October a humpback whale was spotted swimming up the Thames.