Four dead whales have washed up on the Kent coast despite a rescue effort by divers.

The tragedy comes after a pod of nine pilot whales lost their way and ended up stranded on mudflats in the Swale estuary at Seasalter yesterday.

About 30 members of the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) were at the scene between Whitstable and the Isle of Sheppey on Monday but were unable to reach the whales because of the need to traverse the mud.

Crews from the HM Coastguard tried to reach the stranded mammals, but were also defeated. They stood down at 10.30pm last night.

The would-be rescuers returned this morning, but one whale washed up dead at about 9am, and three more were found at about 3pm.

It is unclear exactly where the wales were found, but the divers had planned to use specialist equipment to cross the mudflats and reach the whales today in an attempt to refloat them at high tide.

Currently, the remaining whales have not been located and it is hoped that they have returned to the sea.

Birdwatcher Mark Chidwick captured the whales on video yesterday when only the tops of their fins were visible.

He was first alerted to the pod by another birdwatcher who posted the news on the Faversham Birding Group community page on Monday morning.

However, he did not see them until about 2pm when he and his friend Mike Gould went to The Sportsman pub to count the Brent Geese in the Swale.

Mr Chidwick said: “I was scanning the geese and I picked up on the whales on the edge of the Swale. We watched them but thought it was strange as the tide was dropping.

“You could see they were getting distressed. We posted what was happening online as best as we could and got in contact with the correct people.”

Pilot whales, which can be found worldwide, are one of the largest oceanic dolphins and are only exceeded in size by orcas.

It is not the first time whales have become stranded in the Swale.

In 2020, a sperm whale died two days after it was first spotted off the Whitstable coast.