40-foot dead whale washes up on beach in Essex

A 40-foot dead whale has washed up on a beach in Essex.

The animal was spotted in Clacton on Friday morning and the area has since been cordoned off.

Essex Police says it's working with other organisations, including the 'Big Blue Ocean Cleanup', to decide how to move the whale.

• Click to watch a report by ITV News Anglia's Charlie Frost

In a statement Essex police said: “Sadly a 40ft whale has been washed up on Clacton this morning.

“We are currently in attendance with other organisations and discussions are under way on how to remove her. The area is cordoned off and the public are advised to stay away.”

Police are urging the public to stay away.

ITV News Anglia reporter Charlie Frost said she'd spoken to a local marine diver who speculated that it was a fin whale who could have died after being hit by a boat.

Fin whales are the second-largest mammals on Earth after the blue whale, and are classed as an endangered species.

They can grow up to 80-feet in length, but the British Divers Marine Life Rescue charity said this particular whale was "actually rather small for the species" and was therefore likely to be a juvenile.

"Removal of the carcass is the responsibility of the beach owner," thecharity said, in a Facebook post.

"In the meantime we strongly advise people avoid going near it as there is arisk of contracting an infection from contact with its bodily fluids or the body itself."