Huge 50ft whale dies after becoming stranded on Norfolk beach

A huge sperm whale has died after being washed up on a Norfolk beach.

The whale is believed to have belonged to the same large pod as a dozen other whales that have stranded and died in northern Europe.

The 50ft young adult male was part of a group of six spotted in the Wash at Hunstanton on Friday.

A team from the RNLI, HM Coastguard, Hunstanton Sea Life Sanctuary and rescue divers tried to help the whale back into deeper water but it died at around 11pm the same day.

It is believed the animal became distressed and injured its tail thrashing around in the shallow waters.

It is feared that at least two of the other whales could become stranded in the shallow waters around Norfolk.

Dr Peter Evans, director of the Seawatch Foundation, said the whales probably swam south looking for food but got disorientated.

"They feed on squid and what's probably happened is that squid came in and the whales fed upon them but ran out of food," he said.

"The further south they got the shallower the water gets and when they got to Norfolk, which is very, very shallow, it's quite difficult to navigate and they tend to lose their way and actually strand."

He believes they could have been part of a large pod, some of which beached and died in the Netherlands and Germany.