A gigantic sperm whale has been discovered on a private beach on the Norfolk coast.

The 40ft sea-beast lies sprawled motionless across the sands at Old Hunstanton, Norfolk. It has already begun to decompose, but the area around it is undisturbed, suggesting that the whale died at sea before it was washed ashore.

It may be the same creature that was spotted dead at RAF’s bombing range at Holbeach, that has since been carried off by the tides across the estuary. Large crowds of people gathered to see the sperm whale, its layers of which had a large gash along its side.

Whales occasionally wash up along the North sea coast: experts believe that Arctic currents occasionally bring streams of water from the Arctic into the Northern sea.

But with no squid for the whales to feast on in the North sea, it is a swim that often proves fatal.