A young Minke whale beached at Gorleston has been put down.

The outcome came after a multi-agency effort to save the animal on Monday night, April 4, after it had become separated from its mother.

Dan Goldsmith of Marine and Wildlife Rescue said it was sad that the calf, which had no obvious injuries and looked to be in reasonable health, had been euthanised by a vet.

But with no adult nearby there was little to no chance of it surviving on its own and experience had taught rescuers that refloating it would only lead to it being washed up again and prolonging its suffering.

It was spotted in the shallows at around 6.30pm by someone who shared on Facebook how they and their wife had tried their best to help it before Coastguard teams arrived.

The animal was put to sleep at around 10pm and has since been removed from the beach by Great Yarmouth Borough Council.

A spokesman for British Divers Marine Life Rescue said talks were under way with the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme about a possible autopsy to identify any obvious reason for the stranding.