This was the scene as officers struggled to move a whale, that washed up on Gorleston beach last night.
The Minke whale calf is thought to have been separated from its mother when it washed up near to the Ocean Room on Saturday evening.
It is almost 3m long, with fully grown Minke whales measuring up to 8m long and weighing up to 10 tonnes.
And while it was still alive when it got beached and a rescue effort saw it return to the water, it was too distressed to survive and a vet had to put it down.
Darren Gook, marine biologist at Great Yarmouth Sealife Centre, said: 'My best guess is that it got separated from its mother, meandered off course, got confused and ended up where it shouldn't be.'
He said while whales have washed up on the north Norfolk coastline, it is the first he can remember beached in the Yarmouth borough.
'We've had porpoises by the pier, but this is by far the largest,' he added.
A cordon was placed around the whale - with a warning of 'dangerous substances' - before it could be moved.
The whale was first reported to Humber coastguard at 8.55pm yesterday, with the caller stating it was a dolphin.
Efforts were made to get the whale back into the sea, with countless people offering their help - including three staff from Hunstanton Sealife Sanctuary, two medics from the British Divers Marine Life Rescue team, a member of staff from Bacton Seal and Bird Rescue, Lowestoft and Gorleston coastguard, police and members of the public.
But after it beached a second time an out of hours vet was called at around 1.30am today.
Mike Puplett, watch manager at Humber coastguard, said the vet arrived at around 3am and the whale was put down by injection.
And at around 10am today a JCB arrived to shift the calf from its resting place.
It is to be stored by the borough council until experts from London's Natural History Museum collect it to conduct post-mortem examinations.
For more on this story, see tomorrow's Eastern Daily Press.
Did you play a part in the rescue effort? Email samuel.russell@archant.co.uk
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here