PREVIEW

Smart-thinking locals helped save a humpback whale who became stranded on a beach in Southerness in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland on Tuesday (15October2024).

The mammoth ocean-dweller found itself out of his usual depths on Tuesday afternoon. As 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.

Around 3:30pm, British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) was alerted to the beast’s distress, while a knowledgeable couple checked on the whale while they awaited BDLMR medics and the coastguard’s arrival.

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.

BDMLR officials said: “The whale appeared to be in moderate condition, apart from the signs of stress it was showing, but as it began to tire it seemed to calm down and its breathing relaxed.

"By this time, the whale was drawing some attention from locals, but crowds were controlled as BDMLR Medics and the Coastguard arrived, allowing us to decide on the best course of action.

“Large baleen whales are notoriously difficult to respond to due to their sheer size and weight making them impossible to move safely, so all we could do was ensure the whale was as comfortable as possible with first aid provision.”

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.

“Fortunately the whale had stranded only a couple of hours before low tide, so did not have to wait long for the returning tide to wash over the area to refloat it when the water was deep enough,” the BDMLR team said. “By then, the team retreated to the shore to safety as the light was also disappearing and became impossible to identify where the whale was, so we stood down and sent a Medic out at first light this morning (16 October) to see if our hopes had come true.

“Thankfully, there was no sign of the whale along the coast or for about a mile offshore, however this doesn’t necessarily mean we won’t see it again. Medics will be monitoring the coastline over the coming days to check if it has restranded.”

Humpback whale live strandings in the UK are very few and far between, with BDMLR having responded to only a handful.

The rescue team added: “We’d like to extend a huge thanks to the HM Coastguard for their support and of course to our dedicated Marine Mammal Medics for responding to this incident. We hope the humpback recovers fully and was merely caught out by the huge tides in this region.”