whale stranded dies on Irish beach as rescuers struggle to save it & its Record-breaking

A 65ft fin whale left stranded on a sandbar died this afternoon, despite desperate efforts to lead it back to the safety of the ocean.

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.

Pictured: Kiteboarder's close encounter with a huge whale

Now Australian school teacher David Sheridan knows how Jonah felt - or near enough.

As this amazing picture shows, a huge whale suddenly rose up close to the surface as the 42-year-old New South Wales man was riding his kiteboard - a small surfboard suspended beneath a large kite.

Seconds after this photo was snapped remotely by David's camera, mounted on the kite apparatus, the whale flicked up its tail and gave him an almighty blow on the back of his head.

Because the camera was programmed to take pictures every 10 seconds it missed the moment when the whale struck David - but this incredible shot of the massive creature swimming beneath him is reminder enough of his close encounter.

'It all happened so fast that all I could do was crouch down as the whale swam under me,' David said.

'I saw the huge shape and my reaction was to duck while remaining attached to the flying lines from the sail above me.

'The next thing I felt was its tail come up and hit me on the back of the head.

'I honestly thought I was gone - it was such a forceful blow - but then the whale eased off and I was able to sail away.

'But my legs were really shaking. I've never been through anything like that before and probably never will again.'

David told Sydney's Daily Telegraph he had gone to Valla Beach, on the north coast of New South Wales, for an afternoon of kiteboarding with two friends.

Because he wanted some unique photos of himself, he set up a camera on the sail that would haul him skywards so that he could then skim across the surface of the water - a dramatic sport that leaves beach-side spectators fascinated.

'The camera was set to start firing off shots every 10 seconds as soon as I hit the water. When the sail was at full height the camera was about 25m above the surface.

'It was a lucky shot to snap the whale as it came up underneath me.

'It would have been great to have got a picture a second later when the tail came up and hit me in the back of the head, but you take what you get.'

He said he believed the whale was content to scare him away, rather than lash out aggressively.

'It was more of a push than a punch. I expected more.'

Wildlife experts have identified the creature as a southern right whale, which gets its name from old-time hunters who believed the species were the 'right' whales to hunt because they were large, slow moving and floated when they were killed. They also provided large amounts of oil and bone.

'Southern right whales are more unpredictable than humpbacks,' said Mr Jeff Ross of the National parks and Wildlife Service.

'It's possible this one had a calf it was protecting, or was simply just reacting to the movement on the surface.'