Another whale dies after stranding

Sep 3 2012

A whale thought to have been one of the 10 rescued from a mass stranding on a beach has died further down the coast.

The mammal died after becoming stranded just outside the Port of Leith, near Edinburgh.

Details of the latest death come as post-mortem examinations try to determine what caused 26 whales to be stranded at Pittenweem in Fife, resulting in the deaths of 16 of them at the time. Work is also under way to remove the carcasses of those that died from the Fife coastline.

Forth Coastguard was alerted to the mass stranding at the base of steep cliffs on Sunday morning. When British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) got to the scene, 13 of the 26 whales were dead.

A major rescue was launched with around 50 people from BDMLR, the coastguard, fire service, police and SSPCA trying to save the animals.

The whales were kept cool and hydrated with wet blankets and sheets on the shore but a further three whales died naturally during the operation. The remaining 10 were refloated by BDMLR volunteers and left the harbour that evening.

BDMLR operations manager Stephen Marsh said: "It is likely that this is the pod of rescued whales from Sunday's mass stranding at Pittenweem. If this is the case then the animals headed south-west yesterday rather than moving out into the North Sea and heading north as hoped.

"One of these later stranded just outside the port and has died naturally. The rest of the pod has now turned away and is out of sight, so it is hoped again that they will head out to deep sea and north."

BDMLR has people on watch around the east coast of Scotland and other marine charities and organisations have been asked to keep an eye out for the animals.

Long-finned pilot whales have strong family bonds, meaning that the species is prone to mass strandings because the whole pod may follow one animal that is ill or confused into shallow water. The last mass stranding of pilot whales in Scotland was in the Kyle of Durness in July last year, where BDMLR returned 44 whales to the sea.