| Description | The details of the sperm whale in question are as follows:
NHM reg no.: NHMUK 1978.2558
Strandings reference: SW.1937/2
Species: Sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus
Details: Male, 59 feet (17.98 metres) in length
Date of stranding: 25th January 1937
Location: Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire, England
O.S. grid ref.: TA188669
Donated by H.M. Coastguard on behalf of the Receiver of Wreck
Skull and skeleton in collections
The sperm whale stranded at Bridlington on 25th January 1937. It was delivered to the Natural History Museum on 11th February 1937. The skull and skeleton had been largely defleshed (manual removal of soft tissues) before it arrived. It was placed into one of the NHM’s ‘whale pits’ for burial to allow natural cleaning of the bones. The specimen was exhumed in early 1939 and after surface cleaning, was transferred to the Cetacea research collection (LS Mammals) where it resides today.
The photographs of the sperm whale being deposited at the whale pits in South Kensington in 1937 show a vehicle with the name ‘Dixon’ emblazoned on its side. This is assumed to be a haulage contractor who was employed locally to bring the skull and skeleton to London, and not the name of the person who donated the specimen to the NHM. The sperm whale was donated to the NHM by H.M. Coastguard, acting under the Fishes Royal Prerogative of 1324.
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