Pilot whale found washed up on beach in West Cumbria beach

  • Video report by ITV Border

A pilot whale has been removed from a beach after washing up on the sand in Silloth, West Cumbria.

The young animal was spotted by a member of the public and has now been removed from the beach.

Silloth RNLI Lifeboat workers as well as Silloth Harbour workers provided a driver and storage to house the animal.

A vehicle was used to remove the whale. Credit: Mark Ware

The whale has since been taken for a post mortem examination at Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme.

Anyone who finds a dead marine mammal can report it directly to CSIP on freephone 0800 652 0333.

The discovery was made at Silloth Beach. Credit: Ian Finlinson

When reporting a dead stranding, people are asked to give a clear description of location (The app what3words is useful), species if known, overall length and condition of the animal, for example: fresh; slightly decomposed; moderately decomposed; advanced decomposition and take photos.

Ian Finlinson said: "We got onto the beach, the tide was coming in.

"I could see what looked like a lump of driftwood so walked out a couple of hundred yards, and to my amazement it was a pilot whale washed up, quite fresh actually too.

"My initial reaction was surprise and a little bit of disappointment.

"It's upsetting to see such a fine and large mammal washed up on the beach. I'm used to seeing porpoise and seal more increasingly.

"But not such a big fine mammal as a pilot whale, which I didn't expect to see to be honest."

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