Mission To Save Whale In Trouble Stood Down

An operation to help a whale seen thrashing about in shallow water off Norfolk's coast has been stood down.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency took the decision to suspend its rescue effort after there were no sightings of the whale for 90 minutes.

Keith Griffin, station officer for the Happisburgh and Mundesley Coastguard Team, said: "We've carried out an extensive search and are confident that if the whale was in that search area, we'd have found it.

"Low tide has now passed so with a bit of luck it will return to deeper waters and stand a chance of survival."

The coastguard was first alerted to reports of a whale in difficulty at 10am on Tuesday, in what was the seventh such incident in recent weeks.

At one point, the whale was just 300 to 400 yards from the shoreline.

Mike Puplett, of the UK Coastguard, had urged locals to keep a safe distance from the scene.

He told Sky News: "They are well out of the area they should be in and it is difficult to assume why they are coming ashore.

"Sperm whales, if that is indeed what it is, tends to inhabit deeper waters than the North Sea."

The latest sighting follows the death of a sperm whale in Hunstanton on Thursday, despite efforts to save it.

Sealife experts had said the 46ft bull's chances of survival had not been good, and organ failure was a major risk as its immense weight - normally supported by the sea - could have damaged its insides.

It was the 30th sperm whale to die in the North Sea this year - with others also found washed up in France, Germany and The Netherlands.

Experts believe the male whales normally live off the west coast of Norway, but they may have taken a wrong turn as they headed south to find female companions.

Another theory is that they may have been following the lure of food.