Less than two weeks after the mass stranding of pilot whales on Lewis, two Northern bottlenose whales were found stranded in the Firth of Forth at Low Valleyfield.
British Divers Marine Life Rescue medic, James McKenzie, arrived at the site at 1am last night to find the two whales, stuck on sand and rock, and suffering.
Because of the weight of the cetaceans, over four tonnes each, and the conditions, it was too difficult to right the animals and refloat them, and both died.
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"The first report we got this morning," said Mr McKenzie, "was two porpoises stranded at Culross. First medic on the scene, who got there at 10.30pm. reported back that they weren't porpoises. It was two northern bottlenose whales. Quite different. One was 5.5 metres and the other was six metres in length. They were lying on their sides on the beach."
He added: "The best way for the animals, if they strand, is to try and get them upright as soon as we can, but these were weighing between four and five tonnes, so the physical manpower we needed to get them upright wasn't there and we were limited."
"Euthanasia was discussed but because of the bone structure in the skull for ricocheting, was decided against. We just had to try and comfort them the best we could until nature took its course."
Some sightings have suggested there may be a further northern bottlenose whale in the area.
Mr McKenzie was surprised to find the animals in the Forth, as it is unusual to find northern bottlenose whales on the east coast of Scotland.
"Northern bottlenose," he said, "are not supposed to be in this area. There was a pod of three seen up in Shetland and Moray not long ago and we're thinking it might be the same animals but we're not 100% sure. They've come down the North Sea rather than coming down the west coast and into deeper water.
"The last northern bottlenose was in Loch Long, three years ago and we tried to get them out from there, but they ended up stranding and dying too."
The BDMLR medic was at the scene till 2pm this afternoon, and he and his team of volunteers attempted to reduce stress on the whales by keeping onlookers away, while "nature took its course".
Veterinarian Dr Andrew Brownlow, head of the Scottish Marine Stranding Scheme, will carry out necropsies of the animals tomorrow with the aim of determining the cause of the strandings and deaths.
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