DATELINE: 12th October 2001

MERSEA WHALE
A 4.5m orca whale died after becoming stranded on a sandback near Speke, in the River Mersey.
It showed no signs of injury from, say, collision with a boat. RSPCA staff who attended the scene judged that the whale had died from disease or natural causes.
Orcas are known to turn up more in areas of the British Isles including west Scotland and southern Ireland. A sighting - let alone a stranding - in the Liverpool area is far less common.

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