Bodies of whales removed from beach

Sep 4 2012

The bodies of the pilot whales which died after a mass beaching on the east of Scotland have been removed from the coastline.

The carcasses were winched to the top of cliffs at the Fife beach where the animals became stranded over the weekend.

They will be taken further north for disposal, once vets and pathologists have completed their work to determine what caused the pod of whales to end up on dry land near Pittenweem.

Forth Coastguard was alerted to the mass stranding at the base of the steep cliffs on Sunday morning, prompting a major rescue operation involving divers, emergency services and the SSPCA.

British Divers Marine Life Rescue said 13 of a total of 26 whales were dead when they got to the scene and a further three died during the operation to save them.

Ten whales were successfully refloated and they made their way out of the harbour. However, officials suspect a whale found dead the following day further down the coast, near Leith in Edinburgh, was from the same group.

Experts voiced disappointment that the pod appeared to have headed south-west after being freed, rather than heading north to deeper waters.

Post-mortem examinations to try to determine what caused the whales to be stranded have been carried out by experts from the Scottish Agricultural College and the Zoological Society of London.

Fife Council began work on Monday to remove the carcasses of the animals that died on the region's coastline. The local authority's head of environmental services, Dr Bob McLellan, said the initial stage of that process is now over.

"All whales have now been removed from the shore to the top of the cliff where they are being stored," he said. "The vets and pathologists are finishing off their work before the carcasses are transported up north to the Moray area for disposal."