The South Coast whale finally stranded on a beach at Bournemouth, after a week moving up and down the coast. It had first been spotted off Branscombe in Devon, before being seen in Poole Bay and around Bournemouth Pier.
It was monitored by volunteers from British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR). Initially it seemed fundamentally strong, submerging seemingly to hunt and blowing with vigour.
However, BDMLR advised that a probable shortage of appropriate food would wear it down unless it moved off soon into its customary deepwater environment. That did not occur and the creature, which ws nicknamed Gilbert but turned out to be a female, stranded.
It was judged to have died before coming ashore, based on a sighting of what appeared to be an inert whale corpse by a sailor, and the state of decomposition soon after stranding.
An autopsy was carried out by a three-strong team from the British Zoological Society. Examinations are made for a database which helps build a picture of the ailments from which whales and other cetaceans perish in British waters, and any environmental factors which may affect their condition.
Meanwhile BDMLR volunteers are now assessing a whale, thought to be another northern bottlenose, in Scotland's River Clyde. It has been swimming about near Clyde Arc Bridge, only a mile or so from the town's centre.
Concern has been expressed over muscle wastage on the back of the creature, judged to be a juvenile of about 5m in length.
Asked about the whale's chances once caught up in shallow waters, BDMLR vet Cameron McPherson told press: "The end result for this type of species is not usually great, unfortunately, because they don't tend to cope well with the stranding process.
"They are an offshore species, they live in the deep Atlantic and to be in the River Clyde is obviously not its natural environment."
Related link
Whale of a time - hopefully
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