The badly decomposed carcass of a whale has washed ashore on a beach on the east coast of Scotland – with the body of another dead leviathan also spotted off the coast of Wales. East Lothian Council issued a warning to those visiting the beach, in North Berwick, after discovering the grizzly sight this morning.
A cordon was placed around the giant marine mammal’s body and dog walkers were told to “maintain an appropriate distance”.
Although in the later stages of decomposition, the whale was thought to be a minke, which was eventually removed by a forklift truck, placed in a tractor-trailer and driven off the site.
The council said in a statement: “Unfortunately, a badly decomposed minke whale has been washed up on North Berwick beach this morning.
“A cordon will be put in place while arrangements are made to remove it and people are advised to maintain an appropriate distance and to keep dogs away.”
The council subsequently added: “The minke whale washed up on North Berwick beach earlier today has now been removed.”
The incident has been reported to the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS).
In a separate incident, another dead whale was reported in the sea in North Wales.
In a Facebook post today, Abersoch Coastguard Rescue Team said: “At 8.51am this morning we were tasked to a sighting of a beached whale on Porth Neigwl – thanks to Jess and Matt camping at Treheli for the shout.
“Once located we directed a team from British Divers Marine Life Rescue to the cliff top who confirmed the whale was dead and currently thought to be a young sperm whale.
“With a full and very high tide preventing any access to the beach a full assessment and post-mortem will be carried out later.”
ACRT added: “Please do NOT attempt to approach the whale as this part of the beach is fully cut off at high tide and any contact will impair the valuable results to be gained from a full autopsy.”
