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Wales Online
Wales Online
National
Laura Clements

Sperm whale discovered on Welsh surf beach

Campers spotted a dead sperm whale washed up on a Welsh beach on Bank Holiday Monday. The Abersoch Coastguard Rescue team was called out just before 9am after the beached mammal was discovered on Porth Neigwl (Hell's Mouth), near Abersoch in Gwynedd.

The rescue team contacted British Divers Marine Life Rescue who confirmed the animal was dead. Earlier this month, another whale carcass washed up onto a UK beach. You can see pictures here of the eight-hour operation to move the 30-tonne mammal from the beach.

People are being urged not to approach the creature at Porth Neigwl to allow an autopsy to be carried out.

British Divers Marine Life Rescue confirmed the whale was dead (Abersoch Coastguard Rescue)

The Abersoch coastguard confirmed the find on their Facebook page and said: "At 8:51 this morning we were tasked to a sighting of a beached whale on Porth Neigwl - thanks to Jess and Matt camping at Treheli for the shout.

"Once located (yes we found it Abersoch RNLI) we directed a team from British Divers Marine Life Rescue (bdmlr.org.uk) to the cliff top who confirmed the whale was dead and currently thought to be a young sperm whale. With a full and very high tide preventing any access to the beach a full assessment and post mortem will be carried out later.

"Please do NOT attempt to approach the whale as this part of the beach is fully cut off at high tide and any contact will impair the valuable results to be gained from a full autopsy."

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