Second whale washes up on North Berwick beach

A second whale has washed up on a beach in East Lothian in under a month.

The dead whale beached on North Berwick beach on Sunday morning.

East Lothian Council cordoned off the area and advised people to stay away while arrangements were made to remove the carcass.

The council said in a statement on Facebook: “Unfortunately, a badly decomposed minke whale has been washed up on North Berwick beach this morning.

“A cordon will be put in place while arrangements are made to remove it and people are advised to maintain an appropriate distance and to keep dogs away.”

The whale carcass was later lifted into a trailer.

It is the second whale to wash up on the same beach in recent weeks, with workers spending hours removing the nine-tonne carcass of a minke whale which beached on April 19.

Further north, a dead humpback whale was found on a sand bank at Loch Fleet nature reserve in Sutherland on Friday.

An expert at the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS) said initial examinations suggested the juvenile female had died after becoming tangled in creel lines.

SMASS is a dedicated research and reporting project for stranded cetaceans, pinnipeds, marine turtles and large sharks in Scotland.

Stranded whales longer than 25ft (7.62m) are considered “royal fish”, with the Scottish Government having first claim on those found dead or stranded on the shoreline north of the border on behalf of the Crown.

If it does not want to claim it, it will speak to the local authority and environmental officers, who can then arrange to collect the carcass.

Responsibility for smaller whales, as well as all porpoises, dolphins and sturgeons, lies with the local authority.