This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-35533096
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Whale spotted in shallow water off Norfolk coast | Whale spotted in shallow water off Norfolk coast |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A whale has been spotted in shallow water off the Norfolk coast, less than a week after the death of another whale in the same waters. | |
| It was reported to be alive and thrashing about near Mundesley, according to a coastguard rescue team. | It was reported to be alive and thrashing about near Mundesley, according to a coastguard rescue team. |
| The latest sighting is about 50 miles away from Hunstanton, where a whale died on Thursday after being washed up. | The latest sighting is about 50 miles away from Hunstanton, where a whale died on Thursday after being washed up. |
| It was the sixth sperm whale to die off the British coast this year and the 30th to die in the North Sea in 2016. | |
| Read more on this story and others from Norfolk | |
| Coastguard Mike Puplett said: "We are advising people to keep at a safe distance from the whale, so we do not cause any further distress to it. | |
| "We are doing all we can to assist the authorities and allow those with rescue experience to do their work." | "We are doing all we can to assist the authorities and allow those with rescue experience to do their work." |
| The British Divers Marine Life Rescue said it was investigating the latest sighting and was told the whale was "still free-swimming." | |
| Operations manager Stephen Marsh said: "If it does strand the story will be very similar to what we've had recently - the whale will have very little chance of relaunching and, if it does, its chances of survival will be very low." | |
| The whale was spotted by a member of the Mundesley Coastguard Rescue Team, which contacted the UK Coastguard just after 10:00 GMT. | |
| A spokesman said: "The whale, which is the seventh whale in that area, was reported to be alive and thrashing about in the shallow water." | |
| The six whales that have died this year in British waters all washed up on the east coast of England in Skegness and Hunstanton. | |
| The others were found beached in France, Germany and the Netherlands. | |
| Marine experts said it was probably due to a pod straying into shallow waters while hunting squid. |