Dead whale dangling causes quite a sight

Wildlife: Soldiers use truck to transport mammal for necropsy

The body of a two-tonne whale stranded on a Highland beach was hauled through Inverness on the back of an army lorry ahead of Storm Ali battering the coastline this past week.

The Scottish Marine Animal Strandings Scheme (SMASS) received reports of a live minke whale on the shore at Ardersier Bay on Tuesday night, but despite the best efforts of the British Divers’ Marine Life Rescue crew, it died after getting stuck on dry land.

The following day, a SMASS team was dispatched to carry out a necropsy on the animal but, with the wind picking up and Storm Ali on the way, emergency measures were required, and the group summoned the assistance of the 3rd Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland.

The soldiers hoisted the whale on to the back of their vehicle, and rushed it to the lab in Inverness.

A SMASS spokesman said: “Given the size of the animal, and hence the obvious issues with taking it anywhere, the initial thought was we would have to do the necropsy.

“However, with a storm brewing and a forecast featuring galeforce winds and horizontal hail, we rapidly explored options for transporting the animal to our lab in Inverness.

“Nevertheless, the animal was 644cm (21ft) long and weight an estimated 2,000kg (4,410lb) – not an easy thing to shift.

“With the weather rapidly worsening we needed a solution quickly, and it was with the great help of a local farmer that the carcass was moved off the beach, where the guys from the 3rd Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland were waiting with their truck.

“Having a 644cm minke whale on a 500cm truck does however mean that a noticeable bit of your whale dangles off the back, so it was quite a sight driving through the capital of the Highlands.

“So with great thanks to the army, we managed to get the minke to our lab for post-mortem within 18 hours of death.”

Once the researchers got to work on the young female whale it was found to show signs of a bacterial infection and severe brain lesions.

Thanks to the help of the army, locals who offered a hand, the council and the coastguard, the group were able to determine the probable cause of death.

The group continued: “It is almost certain the cognitive ability of this animal was severely compromised as a result of these lesions, impairing the ability to forage and, ultimately, leading to the animal live stranding and drowning.”

CARCASS: The 21ft marine animal was hoisted on to a truck of the 3rd Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland but proved a little too long

The female minke whale was examined at a lab in Inverness