Thornham, Norfolk
February 2004

Report from 2004

A sixty foot male sperm whale has been washed up on the beach at Thornham in Norfolk in February 2004.   It originally appeared during the last week of January on Holme beach but the tide moved it eastwards to Thornham where it lies at the edge of the harbour channel. 

A clear view of the whale out in the channel
from Thornham Harbour car park.

Sperm whales mostly feed on giant squid which is found in much deeper waters than the North Sea.  The Wildlife Trust is quoted as saying 'that it had almost certainly got lost at sea'.

Beached whales are found from time to time in Norfolk.  There was one on Brancaster Beach in early 1992 and a whale was washed up at Heacham in 1993.  Last year a sperm whale was washed up in The Wash not far from Long Sutton.

Members of my family inspecting the remains of the
whale on Brancaster Beach in May 1992

Brancaster, Norfolk
February 2006
Photos by Kate Scott Moncrieff

Yet another sperm whale has appeared on the North West coast of Norfolk.  Originally seen beached on Scolt Head Island on the 10th February 2006, the dead whale finally came to rest on the beach at Brancaster a fortnight later.  It is slightly smaller than the Thornham whale at 50 foot.

The National Trust has reported that the whale is the fourth to be washed up on the North Sea coast in the past weeks.  The others were seen at Skegness in Lincolnshire and Spurn Point in Yorkshire.

The decomposing carcase was removed from the beach between the hours of 8.30am and 5.30pm as the tide allowed on Tuesday 28h February.

It was cut into sections and taken in skips to a landfill site at a cost of £17,000 to the National Trust.

Sperm whales are the largest toothed whales and have the biggest head of any animal and the largest brain.  The head is about one third of the body length.  Males grow up to 60 feet long and weigh 40-50 tons.  They live in pods on the surface of the oceans and have been known to dive up to10,000 feet to feed.

A Sperm Whale from an original painting
by Archibald Thorburn (1860-1935)

The Whale & Dolphin Preservation Trust report that sperm whales habitats are usually in the deep seas to the north and west of  Britain and although there are records of  the whales in the North Sea going back hundreds of years it is not usual to see them.    Males travel around in groups of between 10 and 20.  It is feared that something has happened at sea to drive them into what are dangerous areas for them and that more may end up on our shore.