A pod of 10 sperm whales have died after getting trapped off the coast of northern England.
Coastguard members and the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) group were called to a beach in Yorkshire on Thursday after two of the whales washed ashore.
Bad weather forced rescuers to postpone an attempt to get the mammals back in the sea, and by Thursday afternoon the 10 whales were confirmed dead.
"We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks and gratitude to all of our team involved on the ground and behind the scenes in this awful situation today, of all days for it to happen on, as well as our colleagues in the Maritime and Coastguard Agency who have been on scene all day dealing with these tragic and difficult circumstances," BDMLR said.
"Due to the large size and weight of these animals there are no safe methods for lifting and moving live animals of almost 20m length and up to 80 tonnes in weight, nor are there any safe and effective methods available for putting them to sleep either," it added.
The pod is believed to have been young males and BDMLR added they looked to be in poor nutritional health.
The North Sea are difficult waters for sperm whales, as it has few of the deepwater squid they usually eat.
"Many of the animals involved today were in poor nutritional condition as a result and clearly would not have survived long if they had refloated alive on the tide," BDMLR added.
