Stranded 44ft whale dies on beach in Teeside
A 44ft (13m) long whale has died three hours after becoming stranded on a beach on Teesside.
Police alerted the RNLI after spotting the 20 tonne stricken mammal on Redcar beach, just after 0620 BST on Tuesday morning.
A rescue bid started which involved trying to keep the adult sperm whale wet until high tide but it died.
Richard Ilderton, of British Divers Marine Life Rescue, said the North Sea was not a suitable environment for such a large creature as he explained what effort was made to rescue it.
31 May 2011