Following the events of Sunday 2nd August, when two Northern Bottlenose whales stranded in shallow waters around Cromarty, Scotland, the second northern bottlenose (which was initially carried away on a rising tide) has sadly now been found dead in the Cromarty Firth.
The Scottish Agricultural College (SAC), which is responsible for dealing with dead stranded whales and dolphins in Scotland, are hoping to recover the body today in order to collect information about the whale that might help with understanding this animals state of health and with future similar events. A dead whale, most likely this animal, was first seen floating in the Firth on Tuesday 4th August.
The first whale, a sub-adult male injected with anaesthetic at the scene of the stranding on Sunday, under went a post mortem earlier in the week. The early results show that although the whale had a good blubber thickness and lots of squid beaks in its stomach (a favourite prey of these deep diving whales), it also showed some internal symptoms of being unwell, possibly with pneumonia. A full post mortem report will be available at a later stage.
Whilst the deaths of these little seen and little understood whales is incredibly sad, they are found on British waters off the north and west coasts of Scotland, and it is important that we learn as much as we can about them in order to better protect them.
The UK has one of the best strandings networks in the world and is operated by a large network of dedicated staff and volunteers of a number of agencies and welfare organisations, including SAC, British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS).
All strandings should be reported immediately. Please report live strandings to BDMLR on 01825 765 564 and strandings of dead animals in Scotland should be reported to 01463 243 030