‘Devastated’ witnesses watched an endangered whale slowly die after it washed up on a British beach and crushed its internal organs on a rock.
A desperate rescue operation was launched by the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) to save the 65ft fin whale at Nare Point on the Lizard in Cornwall on Friday, but the animal lost its battle for survival at around 3.45pm.
The creature – which reportedly looked like it had not eaten in some time – was initially spotted swimming at the privately-owned cove on Valentine’s Day morning.
One of the onlookers was Steve Green, of Clean Ocean Sailing, who said he was ‘heartbroken’ to later watch the whale pass away.
He said: ‘It is so sad as she was swimming with us just this morning and it was wonderful to see her alongside us.
‘About where we anchored we were doing a beach clean up and we were horrified to see her stranded on the rocks.
‘It was heartbreaking to watch her die. We were hoping to get a load of people on the tide to help her turn around – but that hasn’t been possible. It is devastating.’
Mr Green was told later by rescuers that the animal had been crashing around for several hours to try and get off the rocks, but it is believed to have crushed its internal organs due to its mammoth size.
Julia Cable, national coordinator at BDMLR, has confirmed the creature was a fin whale, the second largest whale on the planet which normally lives in the Gulf of California, the Coral Triangle or the Arctic.
Ms Cable said: ‘We don’t get them in our waters. I can’t remember the last time one was recorded down here. It is really really thin so it’s likely it hasn’t eaten for some time.’
It is rare to find fin whales in British waters and it appears that the creature may have been sick, although tests will need to be carried out to determine the cause of death.
