Juvenile whale found dead on beach

A young humpback whale has been found dead on an East Lothian beach.

The juvenile whale, which is around 9m long, was washed up at John Muir Country Park, close to Tyninghame.

It is believed the animal died yesterday morning, with countryside rangers intending to remove the carcass by last night. It is suspected the whale could be the same one spotted tangled in a fishing line in the Firth of Forth around a month ago.

No cause of death has been established, but signs suggested it had been entangled in rope before it died.

East Lothian Council said yesterday on Twitter: “Arrangements are being made to remove the whale and people are being advised to keep their distance from the site.”

The discovery comes almost a year after a 30ft carcass of a minke whale was discovered at Belhaven beach close to Dunbar.

A spokesman for East Lothian Council said of the whale: “It may well be towed to another site and possibly a postmortem examination will be carried out. The level of decomposition is slight.”