A whale rescued yesterday after becoming stranded on the Lincolnshire coast was found dead this morning on a Skegness beach.

Rescue teams tried to save the beached 18ft (5.5m) long northern bottlenose male and his female partner on Thursday. Floating pontoons were brought in to try and refloat them at high tide but efforts failed and the female whale died in the evening.

Teams then worked through the night to try and save her male partner. Rescuers feared he had died when he stopped breathing for 18 minutes but he was revived and towed three quarters of a mile out to sea where he was able to swim to safety. Unfortunately, the effort failed, and the whale was found dead in the early hours of this morning.