Post-mortem on stranded whale

EXPERTS believe they know why a whale got stranded in the Dee estuary and died.

The 40ft calf first became stranded on Friday, June 12, with fishermen, coastguard officers and marine experts battling for hours to get the creature back into open waters.

But the mammal returned to the estuary the next day and died on Sunday, June 14 despite the best efforts of rescuers.

The carcass was removed on Monday and examined by experts from Cetacean Strandings Investigation

Programme (CSIP), Natural Resources Wales and the University of Liverpool.

CSIP posted on Facebook: “The whale was judged to be in moderate-poor nutritional condition, with no evidence of recent feeding.

“Relatively minor parasitic infestations were noted within the vasculature of the kidneys (consistent with Crassicauda sp.) and also within the stomachs and intestinal tract and in the blubber.

“No evidence of marine debris/ plastic ingestion was noted in the stomachs.

“The findings from the gross examination are currently considered to be consistent with live stranding of a nutritionally compromised and out-of-habitat individual.

“Further tests are pending and follow-up results will be posted if anything of note arises.”

Tests showed that the whale was likely to be around one year old and would have recently weaned. CSIP added that a wide range of samples and data was collected during the examination.