PREVIEW

Savvy Locals Help Rescuers Save Stranded Humpback Whale From Scottish Tides. Smart-thinking locals helped save a humpback whale who became stranded on a beach in Southerness in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The mammoth ocean-dweller found itself out of his usual depths on the afternoon of 15 October. As the beach in this area is almost flat, about two kilometres of sand and rocks are left completely dry at low tide. Members of the public reported they could hear the thuds of the whale thrashing its tail flukes, desperately trying to manoeuvre itself off the sand as the water around it dropped. The 9 metre-long humpback was gulping and flailing its tail in the air which propelled it deeper into the sand. The couple told BDLMR that the incoming tide rushes in fairly quickly when it turns, so the team were hopeful that the whale would only be stranded for a matter of hours before the water could hopefully refloat it without any major intervention, other than medics ensuring it was comfortable and well. They then waited for the tides to give it a chance to make it back out to sea - which fortunately it did - although it may restrand again. Humpback whale live strandings in the UK are very few and far between, with BDMLR having responded to only a handful.