Locals examine washed up whale on a beach in Denmark.

Locals examine washed up whale on a beach close to Esbjerg, Denmark. Image by AP/Photo Marco Brodde/POLFOTO

A twelve metre-long sperm whale lies stranded on the beach on the island of Fanoe close to Esbjerg on the Danish North Sea coast.

The whale, apparently, has been dead for a couple of days and biologists are now preparing for a dissection of the big animal.

(Press Association)