‘Devastating’: Beached pilot whale spotted in north east Fife dies

A rescue operation for a beached pilot whale discovered on the shores of Fife has been called off after volunteers discovered the animal had died.

Efforts to save the stranded pilot whale in Wormit were launched after it was reported by a local resident on Wednesday.

But volunteers from the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) determined the animal had died after they arrived at Wormit Bay in Fife.

A spokesperson told The Courier it had been been identified as an adult female pilot whale and measured around 4.3 metres.

“It was first reported as possibly a porpoise or dolphin,” the spokesperson said.

“When we got there we found an adult female pilot whale but it was deceased so it was not a live rescue.

“We did check the nearby area, as pilot whales notoriously turn up in larger numbers, and our initial concern (was) that the dead animal could mean there was more nearby.

“But there was nothing found and we’ve had no reports.

“Hopefully it was just a case of it being an older animal separated from its pod.”

Locals later saw the whale being towed back out to sea by boat, with removal organised by the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS).

Stranded whales are not routinely disposed of at sea, as their decomposition can be harmful to other animals.

SMASS will determine how best to dispose of the animal, with a number of options including burial available.

Last year another dead whale discovered in Fife was taken to a landfill site in Dunfermline.

Beached whale leaves locals ‘heartbroken’

Wormit resident Murray Chalmers says he was left heartbroken after seeing the animal towed away.

He said: “I’d hoped there might be a slim chance that it would somehow revive when back in the water, but my neighbour told me it had actually been washed up on the beach last night and so it was dead.

“It was very sad to see this once majestic creature being towed back into the river on a rope.

“I can’t stop thinking about it.

‘Thankfully it hasn’t happened often’

“It’s so devastating to see things like this but thankfully it hasn’t happened often over the 18 years I’ve lived here.”

You can get more information on what to do if you discover a stranded marine animal on the BDMLR website.