A dead whale has been spotted floating in the Thames Estuary, prompting a local navigation warning to vessels, the Coastguard said.
A passing tug saw the mammal, believed to be a humpback, off the Isle of Sheppey in Kent at around 7.30am on Sunday, Thames Coastguard said.
Officials from the Port of Sheerness are looking to try to recover the dead whale before a post-mortem examination is conducted to determine how it died.
A Thames Coastguard spokesman said: "It's running with the tide so it will go out eastwards if it is not lassoed.
"The Port of Sheerness, whose jurisdiction it falls under, are looking to recover it and bring it ashore.
"It looks likely that it will be post-mortemed to find out why it died. We have issued a local navigation warning.
"Obviously for larger vessels, the whale isn't going to present too much of a problem."