A new dead sperm whale has washed ashore: ‘The North Sea is a sperm whale graveyard’

A dead sperm whale has washed ashore near Blåvandshuk Lighthouse close to Esbjerg.

According to Henrik Lykke Sørensen, a forester at the Danish Nature Agency, who confirmed the find to DR, the whale lies more than a kilometer from the coast. However, due to low tide, the massive animal has now surfaced above the water.

Read also: Sperm whale died from fishing net in its esophagus (https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/kaskelothval-doede-af-fiskenet-i-spiseroeret)

This stranding follows just a few days after another sperm whale was found beached at Aalbæk in North Jutland, marking the first sperm whale to strand in Denmark in ten years.

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### Could become a sperm whale hotspot

Even though it has been ten years since the last sperm whale was found beached in Denmark, it is not uncommon for our neighboring countries.

Charlotte Bie Thøstesen, a natural history expert at the Fisheries and Maritime Museum in Esbjerg, explains:

There are often groups of young males that, during the summer months, travel northward toward Norway in search of food. When they return southward, they sometimes get lost in the North Sea instead of swimming around the British Isles.

"The water in the North Sea is relatively shallow compared to where they normally live in deep waters, so due to currents and tides, they may not be able to navigate properly in the North Sea," says Charlotte Bie Thøstesen.

That’s why she calls the North Sea a sperm whale trap, as its southern outlet leads into the English Channel like a funnel. This can make it difficult for sperm whales to find their way back into the Atlantic Ocean.

According to Charlotte Thøstesen, this can sometimes lead to mass strandings of sperm whales in the countries bordering the North Sea within a short period.

"It has been ten years since the last sperm whale stranded in Denmark, but in the same month, 29 other sperm whales were found beached along the North Sea in our neighboring countries," says Charlotte Bie Thøstesen.

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### Whale’s future uncertain

Henrik Lykke Sørensen, the forester who examined the sperm whale near Blåvandshuk Lighthouse from a distance earlier in the day, still cannot say anything about the further process for the large animal.

"We can’t do anything with the situation as it is now. The whale lies so far from land that it’s not possible to salvage it, so we’ll wait and see," says Henrik Lykke Sørensen.

Due to changing weather conditions, he still doesn’t know how it will affect the whale’s journey.

If more water and wind come from a westerly direction, the whale may be carried closer to land, where it can then be salvaged for examination, according to Henrik Lykke Sørensen.

However, it is also possible that the whale will be taken by the current and carried elsewhere along the west coast or back out into the North Sea.

The Danish Nature Agency advises against attempting to get close to the whale, as there are deep tidal currents between the coast and the animal.

If someone wants to see the whale, they recommend observing it from the coast using binoculars.

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