Headless Whale Skegness Beach

Written by Angela Gooch on April 11th, 2008 in Nature, Social History.

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DID YOU SEE THE HEADLESS WHALE?
HEADLESS MAMMAL DEPOSITED ON FORESHORE

More people were seen on Skegness beach during the weekend than for many a long day.
The “attraction” was the headless body of a whale which had been washed up by the tide. Its girth may be judged by the fact that its diameter exceeded three feet. The mammal was deposited by the tide some distance seaward of the Sun Castle.
A PREDECESSOR
A similar specimen was washed up on the shore further urther northwards about twelve months ago. Its carcase was riddled by bullets, and the new arrival was probably also a war victim, by coming into contact with a mine.
Its condition indicated that it had only recently lost its head, but exposure to the sun’s rays on the beach
will certainly advance decomposition unless the carcase is speedily rapidly removed.
This weekend’s event recalls that the Pier and the Whale in the Ship “Eliza” were Skegness’s biggest beach attractions fifty years ago.

May 1941