by Melissa Hills

A humpback whale that was washed up near Dartford in the River Thames is likely to have died from starvation, it has been revealed.

The whale was first spotted in the River Thames between Northfleet and Tilbury on Thursday evening, when experts thought it could have been a northern bottlenose whale.

No further sightings were then reported before the sad discovery at the edge of the river early on Saturday.

The whale's body was then moved to Denton Wharf at Gravesend where a post mortem was carried out by scientists from the Zoological Society.

Rob Deaville, of the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme, said: “Preliminary results from the post-mortem examination indicate that it may have died as a result of starvation, but further tests are still pending and may provide additional information about what happened to this whale”.

The last time such a species was spotted in the Thames was in 2006, when Wally the bottlenose whale lost her fight to reach open sea.

The last humpback whale to be found stranded around the UK coast line was in 2007 at Port Talbot in Wales.

Mr Deaville added: “There have only been 12 strandings of humpback whales in the UK in the last 20 years and this is an incredibly unusual event.

“Although it’s obviously a sad outcome in this instance, the post-mortem examination has given us a rare opportunity to examine a truly extraordinary animal at close quarters. Information gathered through examinations like these will hopefully help further our understanding of such animals and also help contribute to improving their conservation status.”

It is not the first time a humpback has been found in Kent's waters as two years ago one washed up on the Isle of Sheppey.

For the full story and incredible pictures, see your Dartford Messenger on Thursday.