A dead whale has washed up on a busy South Tyneside beach as walkers are advised not to get too close to the scene.
The minke whale, measuring over 4m, washed up on Sandhaven Beach in South Shields at around 4pm on Tuesday.
Members of the coast guard were advising members of the public to stay away from the decomposing creature in case it “explodes”.
The whale was spotted by local Steven Lomas at around 4.15pm as it washed up near South Shields pier.
Steven said: “I spoke to one of my friends who works for coastal rescue, who spotted it at around 3pm out to sea, but it was obviously dead.
“He said it washed up within an hour and a half, so quite quickly.
“South Tyneside lifeguards were there earlier on when there were a few people on the beach.
“I thought they were going to put up a barrier but they left the scene, by then it was completely on the sand.
“The lifeguards were asking people to stand back, because it’s quite decomposed, in case it breaks apart or explodes.
“It was a sad thing to see. It’s quite small for a minke whale so it might have been a young one.”
Steven, from Marsden, added: “They were unsure about what’s going to happen to it next. Possibly researchers might come and do an autopsy to find out how it died.
“They said they might try and cut it up on the beach to dispose of it, or they might leave it to see if it washes back to sea.
“Looking at the size of it, I don’t think it will, I think they’ll have to do something.”
