Angus Council will not be left with a Moby Dick-sized bill to dispose of the sperm whale which washed up on the beach between Monifieth and Barry on Wednesday.
Despite efforts by rescuers to save it, the 45-foot sperm whale was declared dead.
The Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS) performed a post-mortem after being given approval by Angus Council.
Concerns had been raised the cash-strapped local authority would be left to foot the bill for the operation, which included using earth moving machinery to bury the remains which had attracted a steady stream of dog walkers, sightseers and photographers.
The cost and method of disposing of whale carcasses has proved to be an international concern.
In 2011, the disposal of a whale by cutting it up and incinerating it ran to £50,000 in Scotland, but in one Australian case, a humpback whale carcass disposal cost $188,000.
The most recent data shows in 2016, 27 whales and one shark were washed up on Scotland’s coastline.
Monifieth and Sidlaw Lib Dem Councillor Ben Lawrie said: “This sperm whale washing up on our shores has been a cause for amazement amongst the local community.
“It’s not often that we see an amazing creature of such size locally. It’s also been a very sad occurrence and a lot of people are upset that there’s nothing we could have done to save the life of this beautiful creature.”
“What this now provides us is a great opportunity to see what we can learn about this mammal and what led to its death and I’ve been following the updates from the SMASS with keen interest.”
Fellow Monifieth and Sidlaw SNP councillor Beth Whiteside said:”It is of course very sad about the death.
“I know that there have been concerns that the council would be left to foot the bill for the disposal of such a large animal, especially as it involved several earth moving units over a period of days, so I welcome the news that UK and Scottish Governments will fund the costs via SMASS.
“Given the number of incidents of this nature around Scotland’s coastlines, I will be asking council officers for a briefing on the incident overall.”
