Whale stranded on East Yorkshire beach dies

A whale has died after being stranded on South Beach in Bridlington, East Yorkshire
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A 55ft (17m) whale has been confirmed dead on Tuesday (May 2) after being stranded on a beach off East Yorkshire. The whale, believed to be a male fin whale, got stranded on a sandbank off Bridlington’s South Beach on Tuesday, the BBC reports.

Bridlington’s mayor Mike Heslop-Mullens had previously urged people to keep a distance from the giant creature while efforts to save it were made, saying people "should treat it as an animal and not as something to gawp at". But dozens of people had gathered at the beach to catch a glimpse of the second biggest creature on the planet as it laid in the shallows.

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The fin whale is the world’s second largest animal after the blue whale, and can be found in oceans across  the globe. They can grow up to 80ft (24m) and weigh up to 120 tonnes. 

According to BBC Look North correspondent Paul Murphy, fin whales are “very unusual visitor[s]” on UK shores and don’t do well in shallow waters. He added that a team from the Zoological Society of London's Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme is expected to collect samples for analysis on Wednesday.

The responsibility of the whale carcass falls in the hands of the East Riding of Yorkshire Council.