Source: Bell's Weekly Messenger, No. 1815, Sunday, January 9, 1831
The curiosity of the inhabitants of Brighton and it vicinity has been highly excited and gratified, by the interesting circumstance of an enormous whale having been landed by our fishermen on the shore between Kemp Town and Rottingdean. This monster of the deep was observed in the Channel on Wednesday, and late in the afternoon of that day, a party of about 16 fishermen succeeded in towing it to land. It appeared to have been dead a considerable time (perhaps a fortnight) and, it is said, bore marks of injury in various parts of the body. It measures sixty-three feet in length (implying a weight of nearly 70 tons, being equal to that of 280 or 300 fat oxen!) the jaws are fifteen feet long and eight and a half feet wide; the tail is fifteen feet wide. Unfortunately, we were not able to inspect it till late on Friday, when it had been so much disfigured by the partial removal of the blubber by the fishermen, that we were prevented from ascertaining the species, and describing it minutely, which we very much regret.—Brighton Gazette.
See also the following Brighton pages:
Discovery of a Female Without Head or Arms.
Important to Travellers and Inn Keepers.