Marine experts examine dead sperm whale after it washes up on beach in Edinburgh Young animal was discovered on Scottish beach early this morning Arrangements are now being made with Edinburgh City Council for removal The animals usually reside in deeper water in north and west Scotland By William Turvill and Stephen Johns A young sperm whale washed up dead on a beach in Scotland this morning. Marine experts are now examining the animal, which was reported to Police Scotland and the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA) at 7.30am. This afternoon, arrangements are being made with Edinburgh City Council to remove the animal from the water at Portobello beach, near the Rockville hotel in Joppa. This sperm whale, pictured with rescue workers, was washed up dead on to a beach near Edinburgh today A marine expert examines the whale in the Joppa area of Edinburgh after the discovery was made today Corinne Gordon, from British Divers Marine Life Rescue, said: "It is a 45ft male sperm whale, which is not adult. It has possibly been hit by a boat or propellers and that caused the damage. It has been dead for some time and may have been struck out in the deep and then washed inshore. The carcass will be winched out of the water by a crane today and taken to the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme facility at Dunbar, East Lothian, where a post-mortem will be carried out. Sarah Dolman, a manager of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation, helped the recovery of the animal. She said: "It looks like it's a sperm whale - probably not an adult - and it's been here since at least 7.30 this morning. I can't see the length of it because it's mostly submerged. They can grow up to 15 metres, but I would say this one is not that big. 'I'm pretty sure it's dead - it's lying on it's side and the blow hole is completely submerged.' Marine experts are examining the animal, which was reported to Police Scotland and the SSPCA at 7.30am Crowds gathered at the scene today after the sperm whale was discovered early in the morning This afternoon, arrangements were being made with Edinburgh City Council to remove the animal She added: "There's a post-mortem team from the Scottish Marine Animals Stranding scheme, based in Inverness, and they are coming down to examine the animal. The council will make the decision about how that will work and where it will be taken to. Hopefully we'll be able to find out why it died. There was excitement among conservationists last year when a pod of 14 sperm whales was spotted near the Firth of Forth. The creature was found in the water at Portobello beach, near the Rockville hotel, in Joppa, Edinburgh Sperm whales are more commonly found in deeper waters in northern and western Scotland The sperm whale can grow to 15 metres in length, although this whale was young and shorter The animals usually reside in deeper waters off the north and west of Scotland towards the Atlantic, where they hunt squid. A pod of 26 pilot whales washed up in a beaching further up the east coast in Pittenweem, Fife, in 2012. Ten of the pod survived and were re-floated, but rescuers had to winch the carcasses of 13 whales to the top of cliffs at the Fife beach to dispose of them after they died. Sperm whales have bigger brains than any other creature on earth Sperm whales are carnivorous mammals, which usually grow to the size of a bus, often weighing more than 40 tons. Listed as an endangered species, the animal can grow to as long as around 20 metres. They have the largest brain of any creature on the earth and eat thousands of pounds of fish and squid every day. Sperm whales are normally found in groups, or pods, of around 15 to 20, according to National Geographic. Sightings in Scotland are rare, although last year a pod of 14 were spotted in Firth of Forth. The year before, a pod of 26 pilot whales were washed up in Pittenweem, Fife.