Young humpback whale found dead and tangled in rope on Scottish beach

A young humpback was found washed up dead on a beach and tangled up in rope in East Lothian, Scotland.

The carcass of the 30ft-long juvenile whale was discovered entangled in rope at John Muir Country Park near Tyningham.

It is believed to have died shortly before it was found on Tuesday morning.

The whale was later removed from the beach at low tide by a local lifeboat crew from the nearby town of Dunbar.

The marine mammal was transported further down the coast where local farmers then helped with their tractor equipment to haul it onto an undisclosed beach site.

A post-mortem will be carried out on the whale later today by the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme, an organisation who collate data from stranded marine animals such as seals, dolphins, turtles and whales.

People were urged to keep clear of the whale and stay away from the area until was removed to undergo a post-mortem examination.

Jill Mackay, spokeswoman for the East Lothian council said: “It was found on Tuesday morning and by the level of decomposition, it had died relatively recently – either Monday night or early Tuesday morning.”

“It was nine metres long so considered a juvenile whale.”

Ms Mackay explained that the whale had been spotted in the Firth of Forth estuary in recent weeks, identified by its tail which are “unique to whales as finger prints are to us”.

“So it had been in the area for a while,” she said. “It was previously spotted with a marine buoy attached to it. It had become accidently entwined with it”

But the buoy was no longer attached to the whale when it was found yesterday. Instead it was entangled in ropes.

Ms Mackay said: “It has been removed from the beach and is now at another site and a post mortem will be carried out later today.”

“It was removed by a combination of waiting for low tide and a local lifeboat crew from the nearby town, Dunbar.

“They took it further down the coast and local farmers then helped with their tractor equipment to haul it onto a beach site.”

The whale’s location is being kept under wraps due to people potentially coming along and trying to remove its teeth, Ms Mackay explained.