Police have released a photograph of a man suspected of illegally removing the jaw of a whale washed up dead on a Norfolk beach.

The sperm whale was found at Hunstanton on the north Norfolk coast on Christmas Eve. By Boxing Day, its lower jaw was gone.

The BBC has published the picture of the man Norfolk Police wish to speak to, having already questioned a youth over the alleged offer for sale of the jaw and teeth on Facebook.

The jaw held 11 teeth. Another 15 had been removed and were being offered for sale as individual pieces.

The removal of the jaw was in contravention to the international banning, to which the UK is a signatory, on the removal and subsequent sale of sperm whale ivory.

Only certain societies are allowed to harvest and trade the ivory, in support of traditional scrimshaw economies.

The man being sought was photographed on the beach at Huntstanton at midday on Christmas Eve.

Respondees should contact Norfolk Constabulary on 01953 424242, or PC Rob Willis directly at Hunstanton Police Station on 0845 456 4567.

From its state, it was clear that the Huntstanton whale died some time before it was washed ashore.

Its corpse was removed in early January, after tissue samples had been taken for analysis by the Zoological Society of London.

The Society maintains a UK database on cetacean strandings. From analyses of creatures that have died, researchers can determine the difficulties which they have faced.

These include natural and infectious diseases, starvation, entrapment, injury through attack by other creatures or collision with vessels, and contamination from toxins either in the sea itself or in the food chain.