The giant ocean mammal was discovered beached in Courtmacsherry Bay, off the coast of West Cork in Ireland.
The second largest animal on earth after the blue whale, the fin whale, was spotted by members of the local RNLI and a frantic rescue operation was launched.
It is thought the doomed whale may have swam into the bay overnight and then become stranded by a ridge of sand built up by ocean currents.
Coastguards battled for hours, trying to rescue the stricken animal but sadly the whale died at around 1.30pm.
Michael Hurley of the Courtmacsherry Lifeboat said of the giant mammal: 'His tail was up in the air waving about and he was very much alive at that time.
'I could see the spume of water being blown up. As time moved on, it became obvious he was getting more and more tired as his activity began to slow down.'
'He may have been injured at sea. There is a score mark along one of his sides as if he was in collision with a ship or a trawler which may have contributed to him getting into difficulty. The biggest problem now will be getting him off the beach as he has to be taken away to a rendering plant.'
One witness said: 'There was a big attempt to rescue the whale but the lifeboat couldn't get near it because the water was too shallow to sail in and too deep to walk through as the tide came in.
'The crew did their best but they just couldn't save it'.
He added: 'The last time this happened they disposed of the whale by blowing it up. But I don't think they'll do that this time.'
Mr Hurley explained that the whale will probably have to be moved by the county council with massive cranes and slings as he weighs about 15 tonnes. He said the creature measured over 65-foot in length and his tail measured 12 feet from tip to tip.
'He is probably one of the biggest ever seen in these waters. The Whale and Dolphin Group know of 65 whales who have been sighted in the Cork Harbour area but he is not one that they have come across before.'
Stranded whales can sometimes be safely coaxed back to the ocean. Rescues in the past have even seen volunteers plunging into the sea to give the gentle giants a push to send them back into the ocean.
There have even been cases where dolphins have been able to save whales where human efforts have failed.
In March last year, a dolphin came to the rescue of two whales which had become stranded on a beach in New Zealand.
Despite an hour-long rescue attempt by conservation officers, the pygmy whales repeatedly beached.
The team were close to giving up when a dolphin appeared, communicated with the whales and led them to safety.
