Sad news, a northern bottlenose whale (nicknamed Gilbert) that had been spotted along the south coast of England near Bournemouth, has been found washed up on the beach near Alum Chine.
The female whale had been delighting watchers every morning with tail flapping and water breaching, but experts had voiced their concerns as it was very unusual for such a whale to be found along the south coast.
There has been lots of whale sighting in the past, but they are usually spotted passing up or down the English Channel and very rarely stay in one place for long.
The dead whale was discovered around 9pm yesterday (21 September 2009) and is now being examined by conservationists to try to determine its cause of death.
One theory is that Gilbert became caught in a rope as a deep mark around her beak had been found and several cuts are clearly visible on its belly, which is believed to have been caused as she thrashed around in an attempt to free herself.
More info and photos of Gilbert can be found on the Bournemouth Echo website.
