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| Sperm Whale, Swale, Kent - viewed from Oare Marshes KWT. Photo by Adam Whitehouse |
My causal interest in this record changed later in the afternoon when it was re-identified as a Sperm Whale - and now being seen off the east end of the the Isle of Sheppey.
As luck would have it...I had to be up on the coast this morning to take Max to a sporting tournament with his school... John Clements confirmed its presence just before 8am and after dropping the wee lad off at 9:15am it was only a few miles drive to Oare Marshes before taking a brisk walk out to the seawatching hide. Thankfully Doug was still in position and able to confirm that the whale was both present and very much alive. Sure enough, the Sperm Whale was readily scope-able, clearly stranded on the sandbank but with most of the body under water and producing regular spouts, it was an impressively huge beast with it's very distinctive blunt forehead.
My second species of whale in Kent, following the Beluga Whale off Gravesend 15 months ago, and my sixth species in British waters.
