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Beached sperm whale dies in firth

by Dave Keating | August 6, 2008 at 12:50 am

417 views | 2 Recommendations | 3 comments

A whale which got stuck on the beach near Inverness, Scotland has died, bringing the creature's sad story to a conclusion. Send in any photos or videos you might have of attempts to rescue this poor thing.

A whale which became beached in shallow water on a shoreline near Inverness has died, coastguards have confirmed.

The 40ft adult male sperm whale was first spotted swimming in the Inner Moray Firth earlier in the week.

It spent much of Monday moving in circles before becoming stranded in six feet of water at Alturlie, near Fort George, on Tuesday.

The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society said it may have suffered a slow death.

Local officer Charlie Phillips said, once the tide had gone out and the animal was left without the support of water, the weight of its body would crush its internal organs.

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Herbs1

at 06:50 on August 6th, 2008

In Feb of this year a dead sperm whale washed ashore Darsait Beach - Muscat/ Oman, according to experts the whale was already dead about 2 weeks ago, it was struck by a passing ships propeller. The Oman cost guard after many attempts at hauling it out finally did manage to move in after 2 days.

Herbs1 has contributed a photo to this story.

Emilio Lizardo

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 06:59 on August 6th, 2008

Dave Keating, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Some people see a pattern developing here, related to the US Navy's use of high-power sonar, which evidently has the ability to damage enemy vessels. It seems whales may be unintended victims of this military development project.

A lawsuit filed last year by the California Coastal Commission is only one many examples which indicate there may be more to this theory than would be apparent to a casual observer ...

Marrrcelll

at 21:06 on August 6th, 2008

NOTE: The one in my photo is not a real whale, but a real-size sculpture that was exhibited on Scheveningen beach a few days earlier this year.

Marrrcelll has contributed a photo to this story.