AbstractRecords of Cetacea stranded on the British coasts have been maintained in the British Museum (Natural History) since they were started in 1913. Investigations have now been made into the possibility of trends of developments in these strandings. The data have been arranged in groups appertaining to 5‐year periods for all species combined, round the entire British coastline, also in relation to the coast on which the animals were stranded. For this purpose the coast of Great Britain has been divided into three separate areas. In addition, three species have been selected and treated separately to demonstrate the different trends.The frequency of strandings appear to be correlated with the abundance of food fish, this in turn being related to the planktonic and nutritional values of the sea. There are one or two exceptions to this hypothesis, and it is suggested that there may be a correlation between an increase in strandings and a high mortality rate due to a lack of food fis