A WHALE found dead off the north east Essex shoreline probably died of starvation, according to an expert.

Police officers were called in to escort the 40 pilot whales away from Brightlingsea on Friday, but one was later found on land.

Rob Deaville, cetacean strandings programme manager at the Zoological Society of London, said the 2.18 metre female long-finned pilot whale calf had stranded alive before dying on a beach.

He said: "The necropsy showed the whale was in very poor nutritional condition. No significant evidence of recent feeding was found - remnants of several small crustaceans and several squid beaks only.

"The most likely cause of stranding and death at this stage is starvation, although we are waiting for the results from follow-up tests, including several to determine whether the animal had an underlying infection.”

Members of the charity, British Divers Marine Life Rescue, called police and coastguard when the whales were close to shallow water on Tuesday last week.

They spent the day shepherding the whales to safer waters and monitored their movements throughout Wednesday.

The special branch marine unit used a high speed boat to reach the scene and with local boats managed to turn the pod back towards the open sea.

The mammals, which were believed to be following and eating shoals of herring, were later seen heading towards the shore between St Osyth and Jaywick as well as being spotted off Brightlingsea.