Youngest sperm whale ever recorded in England found dead on beach

A newborn sperm whale calf, the youngest ever recorded in England and Wales, has been discovered dead on a scenic beach in Devon.

The 12-foot-long animal was found at Challaborough Bay, near Torquay, after being reported by beachgoers.

Experts examining the tragic find suggest that recent storms could have contributed to its death.

Scientists from the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP) attended the scene.

"It's incredibly young,” said Rob Deaville of CSIP.

"This is by far the youngest and smallest sperm whale ever recorded in England and Wales alive or dead.

"Our partners in Scotland have had two similarly small sperm whales in recent years."

A CSIP spokesperson added: "The CSIP attended a highly unusual stranding.

"A team accessed and examined a 3.6m male sperm whale calf that was reported stranded at Challaborough Bay.

"A small decomposed sperm whale was also reported in southeast Cornwall earlier this month but could not be accessed for examination.

"Photos taken at the time allowed us to make a match between the two stranding events to demonstrate they were the same individual.”

Although the whale was decomposed, experts were able to conduct a “basic field necropsy”, the spokesperson said.

"A small quantity of sand/beach material was found within the stomach chambers – this was likely actively ingested, suggesting that the whale may have live-stranded at or around the time of death.

"A wide range of samples were also collected that may help inform future research in areas such as contaminant exposure and population structure.

"Notwithstanding that the whale was initially reported in southeast Cornwall, this is the first stranding of a sperm whale recorded in Devon since strandings began to be routinely recorded in the UK nearly 120 years ago.

"It’s also the smallest and youngest sperm whale ever recorded in England and Wales over this same period.

"Historically, nearly all sperm whale strandings in the UK have been subadult males around 10-14m long, reflecting our proximity to the normal distribution of sperm whale bachelor pods.

"Female sperm whales and their young aggregate in matriarchal pods in warmer waters much further south.

"Birth length of sperm whales is quoted as around 3.5m so this was an exceptionally young individual and given the condition of the body, likely died some distance south of us, with the body drifting northwards and making landfall on our shores due to the recent period of intense storm activity the UK has been experiencing."