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Beached whales in the UK belong to the monarchy due to an ancient statute. No royal has claimed a beached marine animal, but they are used for research by the Natural History Museum. Strandings provide a unique opportunity to learn more about whales, but many die of starvation.
What happens when a beached whale washes up on the coast of England? It’s a messy business, of course, but one thing is clear: As a “royal fish,” the whale belongs to the monarchy.
According to Rob Deaville, who works for the Zoological Society of London, “a very ancient statute gave the head of the Crown the right to all stranded cetaceans in the UK”. At least in modern times, no royal has actually claimed a beached marine animal, but the monarch’s right to royal fish (including whales, sturgeons and porpoises) was recognized by a statute enacted during the reign of Edward II in the early 14th century . century.
A whale of a tale:
In the novel “Moby-Dick”, Herman Melville quotes the jurist William Prynne, writing that the queen received the tail to be supplied with whalebone for her corsets and supports.
Today, the whale specimens are used by the Natural History Museum for research. “They’re so difficult to study in the wild that strandings give you a unique opportunity to learn more about them,” Deaville said.
Unfortunately, there is evidence that many whales die of starvation. “We only have strandings of male sperm whales in the UK and the ones we examined post mortem all showed evidence of a recent feeding failure,” Deaville said.
