6
Day four's itinerary was split with one group visiting Holocene (less than 10,000 years
old) sites of the estuary and the other visiting quarries at Bradwell and Ardleigh which
provide evidence of the route of the River Thames through north east Essex both before
and after it had been diverted by the Anglian ice sheet into its modern river valley. The
second group finished the day with an all too short visit to Walton-on-the-Naze, a site
which reveals sands from the very beginning of the ice age, some two million years ago.
The field meeting was grant aided by English Nature and organised by Peter Allen of
London Guildhall University. A magnificent 316 page draft excursion 'handout' was
produced and the list of contributors and excursion leaders ran to 42 names, many of
whom were leading authorities in their particular field of Quaternary science. This
document will be published in its final form next month and it will no doubt prove to be
the definitive guide to ice age geology in Essex. For information about the guide please
contact Peter Allen at London Guildhall University (0171 320 1019).
Gerald Lucy
THE FOULNESS WHALE
On 28th October a huge Fin Whale or Common Rorqual was washed up on the mudflats
east of Foulness Island. This is an extremely rare occurrence as this Whale normally
migrates southwards from its arctic feeding grounds along the western side of the British
Isles. Between 1940 and 1978 there were only 9 strandings of Fin Whale on British
shores, mostly in North Scotland. If you want to see living Fin Whales, then the best
places are western Scotland and West Ireland.
FIN WHALES
The Fin Whale is almost the largest animal in the world, exceeded only by the Blue
Whale. Females can reach 25 metres (84 feet) in length from head to tail and weigh 80
tonnes. Like the Blue Whale, the Fin Whale is a Rorqual and related to the smaller
Minke, Sei and Bryde's Whale. The Fin Whale has a worldwide distribution, though
individuals tend to live in small groups each with traditional migratory routes. Like other
baleen whales they filter small food such as shrimps and fish through fibrous baleen
plates. They have no teeth. In the Autumn Fin Whales head south to temperate or
tropical waters where cows give birth to young, usually in May or June.
The Foulness Fin Whale was a massive 67ft from head to tail. It was already dead when
it came to rest on the mud, belly upwards. The pleats on the throat are a distinctive
feature of the Rorquals and allow for expansion when gulping great quantities of water
which contain their food. This water is then expelled through the baleen plates using a
huge muscular tongue.
PREVIOUS STRANDINGS
Only a month previously, in September, a 55ft male Fin Whale was stranded off the Isle
of Sheppey on the other side of the Thames. One can speculate whether this one and the
Foulness whale were travelling together.
R. G Payne