Baby whale becomes stranded in River Dee

A rescue effort is underway to save a whale that has become stranded in the River Dee.

Thought to be a fin whale, and around 30ft long, it was spotted on Friday morning by locals in the area.

Experts were at the scene as several attempted to keep the whale alive by pouring buckets of water on it as the tide came in.

In a video posted by Graham Barber, the whale could be seen swimming back out to sea.

According to Cheshire Live, while the whale has been successfully refloated, the rescue team were waiting to see if it can make its own way out of the estuary and out to sea.

The British Divers Marine Life Rescue confirmed the whale has begun to swim for itself and its team were closely monitoring it from land.

Despite it being a baby whale measuring around 13.5m long, it said it was "very close to the size that they are weaned and independent of their mother" so there was hope it could survive by itself.

"It is also in moderate body condition, which is helpful to its prognosis too.

"Our team will continue to monitor from land and from a safe distance by boat so as not to cause any stress to the animal that might cause it to restrand. The tide is still coming in for at least another couple of hours and this will give it more space to move around in and hopefully locate the open sea."