Whale dies after stranding in Cork....

A 19.7 metre (more than 60’) long Fin Whale (Balaenoptera physalus) that live-stranded in Courtmacsherry, West Cork unfortunately died after being beached by a rapidly receding tide.

http://blog.cjwriting.com/2009/01/16/st ... west-cork/
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ire ... 53414.html

Michael Hurley, of the Courtmacsherry Lifeboat, spotted the young whale on a large sandbank north of the lifeboat station through his binoculars and raised the alarm. “His tail was up in the air, waving about, and he was very much alive at that time. I could see the spume of water being blown up. As time moved on, it became obvious he was getting more and more tired as his activity began to slow down.”

Mr Hurley said it was possible the whale had come in on the tide the previous night and been in the harbour all night.

“He may have been injured at sea. There is a score mark along one of his sides, as if he was in collision with a ship or a trawler which may have contributed to him getting into difficulty. The biggest problem now will be getting him off the beach as he has to be taken away to a rendering plant.”

Mr Hurley said the whale will probably have to be moved by the county council with massive cranes and slings, as he weighs about 15 tonne. The creature’s tail was 3.6m (12 ft) from tip to tip.

“He is probably one of the biggest ever seen in these waters. The whale and dolphin group know of 65 whales who have been sighted in the Cork harbour area, but he is not one that they have come across before.”

I saw on a t.v. porgram that whales beach themselfs before they die it is sad

is whale any good as bait??

Would certainly make some rubby dubby.

There seems to be a direct link between ship sonars and whales beaching themselves.

Very sad.

The IWDG have records of 137 live-stranding events in Ireland involving 307 animals. The number of live-strandings reported to the IWDG has increased in recent years with a record 28 reported in 2007. This may reflect better recording but live- strandings, especially of dolphins, do frequently occur in Ireland. Live stranded whales are less common with only four records to date, two of them on the same day in 2007 ! Refloating an animal over 20ft in length is extremely difficult and unlikely to be successful !

more updates can be found here: http://www.iwdg.ie/article.asp?id=2204

Followed by this disgusting behaviour by locals:

[quote]However, the whale's giant jaw bones have already been removed by locals and are being stored in "a secret location" in Kilbrittain after the row over who had the rights to the whale carcass.

It is understood the jaw bones were removed over the weekend by a number of men using a chain saw.
[/quote]

http://www.independent.ie/national-news ... 07151.html

That's pretty rough alright, but this whales Jawbone is a very valuable piece. Usually used as a whale arch. It's better that the locals take it.

According to yesterdays examiner there is a row going on between residents of Kilbrittain and CourtMacsherry over who has ownership. Tribal warfare..... Might seem like a lot of fuss about nothing but as a child, we used to holiday in Whitby on Englands East coast frequently. The only abiding memory of the place I have is of a whales jawbone proudly displayed in the town.

Sorry about rekindling this but I've only just seen it.

You have no focking idea of the nonsense thats going on down there. Its pure Royston Vesey stuff.

There was a confrontation between two groups, on the sandbank, at night. Kilbrittain apparently chainsawed the jaw and made off with it in the dead of the night. In retaliation, the next night, Courtmac went over and took the tail. There is now occassional raids on each village by opposition trying to locate each piece.

I know most of the people and none of them ever appeared to be menatlly deficient but you live and learn I suppose!!

Theres pics of the Courtmac operation on Facebook. Its called the Sandbank Appreciation group or something.

is whale any good as bait??

i would like to see your frigde

According to yesterdays examiner there is a row going on between residents of Kilbrittain and CourtMacsherry over who has ownership. Tribal warfare..... Might seem like a lot of fuss about nothing but as a child, we used to holiday in Whitby on Englands East coast frequently. The only abiding memory of the place I have is of a whales jawbone proudly displayed in the town.

i wonder if the tribes would fight over trying to get the whale back in to the water if it was alive or would they leave it to the other tribe to do
sad to see a fine fish like this die,sadder to see Kilbrittain and CourtMacsherry fighting over its jaws

to see a fine fish like this die

a whale aint a fish bro its a mammal and belongs to the sub family of cetaceans (whales ,dolphins, porpioses...etc) i know what you mean though

to see a fine fish like this die

a whale aint a fish bro its a mammal and belongs to the sub family of cetaceans (whales ,dolphins, porpioses...etc) i know what you mean though

i know its classed as a mammal but it still looks like a fish to me and a dam fine fish too

Would certainly make some rubby dubby.

There seems to be a direct link between ship sonars and whales beaching themselves.

Very sad.

i read on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fin_Whale

Like other whales, the male Fin Whale has been observed to make long, loud, low-frequency sounds. The vocalizations of Blue and Fin Whales are the lowest known sounds made by any animal. Most sounds are frequency-modulated (FM) down-swept infrasonic pulses from 16 to 40 hertz frequency

i read some where before that Submarines radio work around these low frequencies maybe i am wrong in saying this if i am right could there be a link to Submarines and beachings
could this be linked to
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=20012&hilit=oil+slick