World’s deepest diving whale washes up on West Cork shore

ONE of the world’s deepest diving whales was found washed up and dead at Bishop’s Strand, Tragumna after the recent Storm Elsa.

Padraig Whooley of Irish Whale and Dolphin Group said it was a male adult Cuvier’s beaked whale.

‘This is one of the beaked whale family and probably the deepest diving of all the whales. For this reason they only occur in deep waters and are not seen alive in our inshore waters,’ he said.

He said Storm Elsa wouldn’t have been a cause of death but may have resulted in it washing up in West Cork.

‘There’s no obvious known cause of death. Most cetaceans that die naturally at sea will remain at sea, where they are consumed by a range of scavengers, but storms tend to bring these carcasses ashore,’ Padraig said.

‘The Irish Whale & Dolphin Group encourages members of the public to report any whale and dolphin sightings or strandings in West Cork to www.iwdg.ie, where all records are validated and make a valuable contribution to our understanding of these highly mobile marine mammals,’ he added.

The whale was removed later, possibly by Cork County Council for incineration.

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