An expert has reported that the second minke whale to wash up on an East Lothian beach in less than a month showed “signs of becoming entangled,” which could be a breakthrough in understanding what is driving Britain’s plague of beached whales.
An extensive operation to remove the carcass was launched after a poorly decomposed minke whale body was discovered on a North Berwick beach on Sunday.
The mammal had “some lesions present suggestive of entanglement,” according to Nick Davison, the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme’s (SMASS) stranding coordinator.
Workers spent hours removing the nine-ton carcass of a minke whale that beached on April 19 off the same Scottish beach, where it was the second whale to wash up there in recent weeks.
Five whales—two in Scotland, one in north Wales, and one in Bridlington, east Yorkshire—have now washed up on British shores in the past month.
On a sand bank at Loch Fleet nature reserve in Sutherland, farther north, on Friday, a dead humpback whale was discovered.The young girl perished after getting entangled in creel lines, according to experts.
A baby sperm whale corpse washed up on the coastline of Porth Neigwl on the Llyn Peninsula in north Wales on Monday, according to experts.
‘Live stranded huge whale’ reports were received by British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) at around 8 am on Bank Holiday Monday, according to a spokesperson.
Marine mammal medics who were dispatched to examine the animal were unable to approach it due to the high tide, and “as the tide retreated, it became clear that the whale had passed away.”
A 30-ton fin whale’s carcass was discovered washed up on a Bridlington, East Yorkshire, beach last week, prompting a huge effort to remove the remains without dissecting it.
the 55-foot mammal on Tuesday after it was seen struggling in the water off Bridlington.
Since then, the enormous carcass has developed into a macabre tourist destination where families go to snap pictures of it.
However, the neighborhood council issued a warning, citing concerns about public health and respect for the species.
The Scottish Government has first claimed any dead or stranded whales discovered on the shoreline north of the border on behalf of the Crown. Stranded whales longer than 25 feet (7.62 meters) are referred to as “royal fish.”
Speaking with the local government and environmental officers can help set up the collection of the cadaver if it decides not to claim it.
The municipal government is in charge of smaller whales as well as all porpoises, dolphins, and sturgeons.