Incident 06 August 2008

A distressing occurrence, which started with providing aid to a wildlife team, and ended up with a watch on a “Fishes Royal”

The Station Officer, Roger Cope, takes up the story:

I originally became involved on a personal basis in helping the Whale & Dolphin Conservation Society in tracking the movements of the sperm whale from the high up vantage point of my house which has a commanding view of the Inverness Firth where the whale had seemingly become entrapped.

As the second day of observation progressed it became increasing likely that the whale was not going to exit seaward and sure enough, in the early afternoon, just after a GMTV cameraman arrived at my house, confirmation was received that it had stranded just off Alturlie Point near Inverness.
Subsequently our small group arrived on scene to the distressing sight of the mammal in its death throes; four hours later it died.

Since the Whale is classified as a Fishes Royal the Cromarty and Inverness teams were tasked in protecting it until such time as a strategy was in place to dispose of the carcass and completion of its subsequent removal. A round-the-clock rota was instigated which I and colleges from the two aforementioned teams operated for the next two days, during which hundreds of people came to see this sad sight. The event received much press and TV coverage.

It was one of our more unusual taskings and one which we all agreed we did not wish to repeat for obvious reasons.

Feedback from other members of the team was similar

…been out most of the night – from 1.30am until 7.00am maintaining a vigil with two other Coastguard colleagues over the body of the Sperm Whale .. The 40′ + male whale beached itself at Alturlie Point (just south of Avoch Bay) in the early afternoon yesterday and struggled to breathe until it finally died at around 4pm. One of my vigil colleagues was there at the end of this magnificent creature’s life and he said that he found watching it die a distressing experience – almost voyeuristic.

…Volunteers from the Cromarty team were asked to take the ‘graveyard’ shift and we had the privilege of being alone with the whale when the sun rose this morning. .. The tide was at full height at 4am and gradually the sagging bulk of the whale was exposed as the sea withdrew. Nobody else was around so we were at liberty to stand silent and in awe as bit by bit we could see more of the whale’s body.

I was struck with the size of the beast, especially its head, which I was told makes up one third of its body mass. … I was also struck with the texture of the creature’s skin, the wrinkles and the scars. I wondered along with the others what stories these told. Where was he born? What seas and oceans did he journey through? …In moments like this it can be easy to become fanciful and romantic, but nevertheless we did allow ourselves moments of philosophical reflection and expression of sadness for the creature that lay before us.

Sad end of a wonderful creature.