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Northern bottlenose whale stranding
A Northern bottlenose that was sighted in the River Orwell, near Ipswich has been euthanised. The animal was approx 5 metres long.
 First sightings were reported on July 27 to the Coastguard in the area of the Orwell Bridge. British Divers Marine Life rescue group were soon on the scene to investigate the sightings. The whale was thin and lethargic and after thoroughly monitoring the situation, a decision was made to put the whale down to prevent it suffering from either starvation or dehydration which it would have done.
There has been at least four bottlenose whale strandings since January 2006 on the east coastline, including the one in the Thames, off north Norfolk and the river Humber near Hull. None of the animals survived. These animals don’t normally travel down the east coast of the UK and this particular animal may have found itself, similar to the Thames whale in the North Sea by mistake as it made its way down from Norway.
Northern bottlenose whales prefer deep water and are usually normally found only in waters deeper than 1,000m. There are many ways to tell the difference of males and females besides checking the underside. The males are normally a dark gray or black, and the females and calves are a white or very light gray.
These particular whales are well-known in the Faroe Islands, mainly because in September each year they are killed, around the villages of Hvalba and Sandvík on Suðuroy.
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