2 days ago
5
Four whales have died after they became stranded off the Kent coast on Monday evening.
The pod of nine whales became trapped on mudflats at low tide in the Swale estuary near Sittingbourne on Monday and one whale was found dead on Tuesday morning. A further three were confirmed dead just before 15:00 BST.
A rescue operation to save the stranded whales was called off after "varying inaccurate reports of the location", the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) said.
At about midday on Tuesday, the BDMLR said the whales had become stranded again and that it was assessing the situation.
A BDMLR spokesperson said after the first whale was found dead: "Pilot whales sometimes strand when one is ill and it could be that the one found died and the others left on the rising tide."
Fifteen members of the BDMLR had been planning to use specialist equipment to get across the mud and reach the whales, but unfortunately, due to the inaccurate reports, they could not find them on Monday.
Access on Monday evening was believed to be by Harty Ferry Road, with a walk of three-quarters of a mile (1.2km) across the mud.
Rescuers described the access conditions as "shocking".
Pontoons were being brought from London to help get 4x4 vehicles with equipment across the flats.
It was hoped the whales would be able to be refloated when the tide came in during the early hours of Tuesday.
