So sorry to hear this poor whale that was helped out to sea yesterday has beached again . Dee estuary by Thurstathon. Hope they can help it again but it doesn't sound good does it?
Been watching this , but don't know the latest. It probably lost it's pod and got totally confused. Hoping it gets another chance.
Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect. ~Chief Seattle
Wasn't there a second one nearby in the Dee, not beached, as well?
Its quite common that once they decide to beach there is nothing you can do to persuade them otherwise, I've always thought it is when they know they are dying?
We don't do charity in Germany, we pay taxes. Charity is a failure of governments' responsibilities - Henning Wehn
*North Wales fin whale incident update - Sat 13th June 18:40*
Our team of Medics along with the local Coastguard, RNLI and people who helped yesterday have been working hard providing first aid to the whale throughout the day today. It is stranded a long way from the shore and the main channel of the estuary with the tide out most of the time so it has been an exhausting effort.
A water pump was employed to help relay water from the channel closer to the whale so Medics could gather buckets of water to help keep its skin wet so it didn't dry out and cause further discomfort, while thin sheets have been put over its back to help make it comfortable, but there is not a great deal else that could be done.
The breathing rate was quite high for some time but gradually calmed down to a more normal rate, though it seemed less responsive in itself than it did yesterday. The tide has now come in once again so our team have withdrawn to safety. The whale is still alive and it will be monitored from the boat and the shore.
It is critical to understand how difficult this situation is. A whale of this size would weigh approximately 14 tonnes and it cannot simply be dragged by heavy machinery or lifted by a crane or helicopter. These methods could easily cause severe injury as well as induce severe stress, panic and shock that could lead to its death.
Although we want to be optimistic, we have to be absolutely realistic about the animal's chances of survival at this point. It has spent several hours out of the water gradually being crushed under its own weight over the last couple of days and the degree of internal damage this may have caused could be very significant by now. Even if it does swim off again this evening there is a high chance that it will restrand and/or pass away as a result.
Its been a very long and tough day for our team so we would like to thank them for their efforts as well as the local Coastguard and RNLI team and local residents, as well as North Wales Police who have had to control crowds and prevent people from coming into the dangerous estuary to get closer to the whale. Everyone has worked together as an amazing team throughout and once again all we can do is watch and wait.
Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect. ~Chief Seattle
How very sad. They are asking people to stay away .
Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect. ~Chief Seattle
They have done a post mortem on the whale. "A statement released on Wednesday by the CSIP said the whale - believed to have been about a year old - 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 and also within the stomachs and intestinal tract and in the blubber.
There was no evidence of marine debris/plastic ingestion in the whale's stomach.
The findings from the gross examination are currently considered to be consistent with live stranding of a "nutritionally compromised and out of habitat individual".
""This is the third fin whale to be reported in the UK this year - over the last five-year period 17 fin whales have been reported stranded in the UK."
Such a shame as this whale had beached 3 times and was believed to be only 1 year old, and can normally live to 100+.
