05-02-2016 15:00

This is the carcass of a fifth sperm whale that has washed up on England’s east coast. Four others died in a number of beachings nearby in recent days. A pod of up to six whales had been spotted close to the shoreline on Friday. This whale has washed up near Wainfleet in Lincolnshire.

The latest case follows the death of a beached whale off Hunstanton in Norfolk and the discovery of three carcasses near the resort of Skegness over the weekend. One of the Skegness whales could be seen with “Man’s Fault” spray-painted on its tail and another had “CND” written on it, signifying the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

The cause of the deaths is not known, although there have been several previous examples of sperm whales becoming confused and beaching in the shallow waters of the North Sea.

Experts will examine the bodies of the whales to try and establish why they beached and whether their deaths are linked to a pod of 12 which died between the Netherlands and Germany since 11 January.

Difficult words: carcass (a body), sperm whale (a whale that has teeth, a big head and eats giant squid), pod (a group of some animals), signify (to stand for), shallow (not deep).

Source: www.ondemandnews.com