A DEAD whale spotted floating in waters off the coast of Portland has been destroyed at sea.

The whale, believed to be a fin whale, was seen floating at the the top of the water off Portland Bill last week.

The discovery sparked a navigation warning by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) to alert passing shipping.

The MCA has now confirmed the carcass has been destroyed.

When the dead whale was first spotted, Rob Deaville from the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme said that from pictures he had seen it was probably a fin whale or a minke whale but was more likely to be a fin whale.

Fin whales are the second largest type of whale and are rare visitors to UK waters and particularly the English Channel.

Mr Deaville said: “You might be able to find them south of Ireland or west of Cornwall, where the water is deeper, but they’re not very common and they’re certainly not resident in the Channel.

“Whales face many threats because of our activities including ship strikes and becoming entangled in nets.

“But there is nothing to say this particular whale didn’t die of natural causes and may have blown in.

“We can’t be certain.”