The bloody operation from a distance. Picture: Jason Pay

Gruesome pictures of the moment the dead whale beached in Kent was cut up have emerged.

Wildlife enthusiast and keen photographer Jason Pay kept a constant vigil at Pegwell Bay over three days to capture them.

Jason, 20, from Westwood, near Broadstairs, was intrigued by the operations - a far cry from his normal work as a classroom assistant at Bradstow School.

The former Dane Court School student said the disposal of the whale was a major source of fascination for many people.

It generated much blood and an enormous amount of noise as chainsaws took the great body apart.

Because Jason was persistent and stayed on the shore as late as 11pm he was able to get some once-in-a-lifetime shots including closeups.

Particularly striking are images he captured of the post-autopsy carcass with chainsaws in place.

Jason goes out at least three times a week to photograph wildlife and would like to do it professionally.

He said: "This was a really good topic to capture and an amazing opportunity although the whale's death was also very sad.

"People were coming and going all the time, there were hundreds there, I think some who turned up at the end were a bit surprised."

They show the whale - nicknamed "Bruce" on the KentOnline comment boards - being cut by a chainsaw.

However, most of Jason's pictures were too bloody to reveal.

Thanet District Council, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the British Divers Marine Life Rescue, as well as staff from the Zoological Society of London and the Natural History Museum, worked round the clock to remove it.

The whale got stuck on Pegwell Bay, near Ramsgate, last Thursday. Experts believe it may have died of starvation.