Dead whale washes up on Scots coastline as dog walkers urged to stay away

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A major recovery mission has been launched after the body of a 19ft Minke whale washed up on a beach in North Berwick. Members of the public have been urged to keep their distance after it washed up onto rocks at East Beach on Thursday evening.The dead mammal has been drifting in the Firth of Forth for several days - even sparking an emergency call out to the RNLI.

The whale’s body snagged on a creel line with the buoy markers looking like people in the water alongside a capsized vessel.But when members of North Berwick RNLI arrived on scene, they discovered it was a false alarm before passing details of the animal’s location to HM Coastguard.John McCarter, helm of North Berwick lifeboat said: “It’s obviously a shame to see such a magnificent creature like this dead, something which we’ve already seen twice this year in North Berwick.”He added they hoped it would drift free and back out to sea for the natural decomposition process to continue.But East Lothian Council has now urged members of the public to stay away from the whale’s carcass at the popular beauty spot.

They said: “The dead minke whale is drifting into East Beach, North Berwick. Arrangements are underway to remove it this evening.“People are advised not to get too close and to keep dogs away as it is quite advanced in its decay.”The nearby Scottish Seabird Centre added: “Very sad to see that a dead minke whale has washed into the rocks off East Beach North Berwick today (likely the carcass that was spotted last week).“It's been reported to the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme, local rangers, East Lothian Council Countryside Rangers and harbour team.