A substance thought to be whale blubber has washed ashore in Whitstable after a sperm whale sadly died.

The huge, 50ft creature died on Saturday after becoming stranded just off the coastline.

Today, Canterbury City Council was approached by someone who discovered a substance they believed to be palm oil while walking on Seasalter beach near Whitstable.

But the authority's foreshore officers have visited the site, and confirmed the deposits are instead likely to have come from the whale.

A council spokesman said: "We believe it could be something from a whale carcass, following its sad death further along the coast at the end of last week."

While there has been some speculation the unidentified substance could be ambergris - a mass produced in the digestive system of sperm whales which is historically used in perfumery and is often sold for great sums - a city council spokesman told KentOnline it is thought to be blubber.

Blubber is a thick layer of fatty tissue under the skin of whales and all other cetaceans, such as seals and walruses.

The whale was spotted at Harty Ferry, Oare, on Thursday afternoon. Video: Leigh Allison

The sperm whale first hit headlines on Thursday when it was spotted off the coast near Whitstable, before finding its way towards Harty Ferry, Faversham and the Isle of Sheppey.

On Thursday afternoon, the whale began swimming with the rising tide into The Swale - a tidal channel of the Thames estuary.

Sperm whales are deep water species not usually found around the UK, and experts said its chance of survival was just 1%.

Medics from marine animal charity the British Divers' Marine Life Rescue monitored the whale's movements and behaviour, but on Saturday sadly confirmed it had died.

The whale had found itself trapped in shallow waters and become "distressed and confused".

It is also believed to have suffered a head injury.

A spokesman for BDMLR said on Saturday: "Just before midday today we received news via the Marine Police Unit that the whale had been found, unfortunately it had fully stranded and died.

"The Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme has been informed and they will work with the Port of Medway and HM Coastguard to secure the body for examination."

It was originally thought that the creature was a minke whale or possibly a humpback, but inspection of photos taken by eyewitnesses concluded that it was a sperm whale.

They have distinctive features including massive heads and prominent rounded foreheads, according to National Geographic.

The whales have the largest brain of any creature known to have lived on Earth.

The Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme has been approached for more information about the substance that has washed ashore in Whitstable.

Read more: All the latest news from Whitstable