What happens when a whale washes up on a beach?

A whale and a shark washed up on the same beach within days of each other on the Northumberland coast, with images shared on social media prompting questions about what happens next. What should you do if you encounter something similar?

A pilot whale was recovered from Druridge Bay near Amble on Friday, days after it washed up on a beach as the largest of six to have died when a pod was seen in distress off the coast in September.

A week earlier, a porbeagle shark was also recovered.

Official government advice is to report sightings immediately to British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) if it the animal is alive or the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP) if dead.

Debbie Harrison-Hardy of BDMLR says: "Keep clear, and keep your dogs on leads around it."

BDMLR is listed alongside the RSPCA on official government guidance should someone find a live and stranded whale, porpoise or dolphin.

A report should include the animal's location, the date, and its species, if known.

Members of the public should not approach or touch the animal, especially avoiding its tail, which is powerful and can cause injury.

Harrison-Hardy adds: "They're full of disease and infections that we have to have special antibiotics to deal with.

"As medics, we wear face masks as we did with the whale stranding near Amble."

"If a live animal blows from its blowhole and you get covered, you're in trouble."

Dogs should be kept at least 100m (328ft) away as infections can be easily transmitted, Harrison-Hardy says, and dead animals can have sea lice.

"I certainly wouldn't want one on me," she says. "The shark we picked up had lice between 1 and 1.5cm-long, on larger whales they're even bigger.

"Depending on the species they can be up to 3cm."

Live animals should never be returned to the sea by the public and doing so could prolong their suffering if they are injured, Harrison-Hardy adds.

If a whale is found dead, it should be reported to the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP).

CSIP investigates all stranded whales, dolphins, porpoises, marine turtles and basking sharks around the UK, and in some cases carries out post-mortems.

Whales are considered royal fish, and the Receiver of Wreck (RoW) is responsible for administering the Royal Prerogative for Fishes Royal, which also includes dolphins and porpoises.

It identifies and notifies the landowner of where the stranding has taken place and whose responsibility it is to remove and dispose of any dead cetaceans.

For smaller cetaceans such as dolphins and porpoises, councils usually handle the recovery and disposal through a licensed environmental service waste carrier.

Whales often require more specialised equipment and take more time to dispose, due to their size.

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