Just leaving home when I saw Mike Roser had texted me about a large whale he had seen from the Oare Marshes sea-watching hide, beached on the Sheppey side of the estuary. I alerted Derek Flint who accompanied me on the 1 km walk west of the Sportsman PH.. The whale could also be seen from the pub with binoculars. Moving up to the white post we were almost squared off to it and took photos and tried to ID it although we guessed it was a 'Moby Dick' type sperm whale but had no expertise with these creatures. We presumed it dead but as I was taking photos I could see the fin moving up and down for a short while, maybe the strong wind, who knows. The photos show the fin in two positions.
Fin lying Flat
Notice the position of the fin in the three photos....was it still alive?
According to Meridian News it was confirmed dead by experts and it floated back out to sea by the high tide but was a considered a hazard to shipping by the Coastguard.
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