Post mortem results have been revealed for a whale that died after getting stranded on the Lizard Peninsula.

British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR), a voluntary network of trained marine mammal medics who respond such incidents, said it received "multiple calls" on Friday lunchtime about a 60ft fin whale at privately owned Parbean beach near Nare Point, on the south side of the Helford Estuary.

A small group of its medics went to assess the situation, but found the whale had died - something that was confirmed by a vet later that afternoon.

Now the Marine Strandings Network has published a brief update on the results of a post mortem that was carried out on the whale in "incredibly difficult conditions" the following afternoon.

The team was made up of the network's James Barnett with the support of volunteers and the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme's UK strandings team.

In a statement the Marine Strandings Network said: "It was discovered she was a Subadult female and very thin. The stomach was empty.

"There was considerable amounts of oedema (fluid and swelling) in the chest. The reason for her malnutrition is currently not clear.

"The team took samples for histopathology, bacteriology, toxicology etc."

A fuller summary from the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme is also due to be published at a later date.

"Thank you as always to everyone involved in these events - from the public who take the time to call strandings in, all the way through our brilliant hotline coordinators, dedicated callout volunteers, and of course James and the post mortem team.

"And in the case of this animal, our wonderful partners British Divers Marine Life Rescue who attended the live animal in her final hours."

The BDMLR has also put out a full statement about the incident, saying: "As the site was rather remote and hard to access through private land a small team of marine mammal medics were sent initially, including our welfare development and field support officer Dan Jarvis.

"The animal had been seen swimming nearby during the morning by the Clean Ocean Sailing crew, who were also the people who later discovered it stranded on the shore, and were able to reach it to provide assistance while our team were on the way.

"On arrival, it was confirmed to be a fin whale. It was stranded high up the rocky beach, which had caused numerous superficial injuries all over its body and there was evidence that it must have rolled over at some point after it had become stuck.

"There were also a number of more concerning injuries where the weight and movement of the animal had caused deeper wounds, especially around the tail where it had been thrashing and beating its flukes on the rocks, creating a horrific noise like thunder.

"It was also in very poor nutritional condition, which means that it had not been feeding for quite some time.

"Medics quickly noticed just after they arrived that the animal appeared to be in its death throes, opening the mouth wide and holding the tail up at the same time, and had stopped breathing. Eye reflexes were tested, and no longer responded after about half an hour, by which time our veterinary support coordinator Natalie Waddington had arrived and confirmed that it had passed away.

"Our team liaised with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and were supported on scene by a member of Porthoustock Coastguard Team for health and safety.

"We would like to thank everyone involved in this harrowing incident, including our volunteers, local members of the public, Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Porthoustock Coastguard Team, local landowners for their kind permission to park closer to and gain access to the site, and the team at Clean Ocean Sailing for their efforts and reporting it to us."

Police have warned people not to try and go down to the beach to see the whale, due to the possibility of the narrow roads becoming severely congested and also the potential safety aspects surrounding the rapid decomposition of the whale's body.