Huge minke whale stranded on Scottish beach is saved by rescuers

A 21ft minke whale has been saved by rescuers after it was found stranded on a beach in Scotland.

Volunteers from the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDLMR) and the RNLI finally managed to refloat the mammal after an initial attempt failed.

The whale, that was found by a passerby on the beach in Elle, Fife, on Friday afternoon, returned to the beach after the first attempt but rescuers are confident it will now stay in the water.

An RNLI spokesman said: “After a successful first re-float of the whale, our D Class lifeboat joined the teams initially to steer the whale away from returning to the coastline but a second grounding unfortunately occurred.

“The BDMLR team deployed a re-floatation pontoon which allowed the Minke whale enough water to float once again and, with gentle encouragement, the whale was freed.”

A spokesperson from BDLMR added: ”As she was quite active and partly in the water, it was a real struggle for the team to get her afloat again as she was trying to swim off the reef but the lack of depth was against her.

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“Eventually the team were able to get her afloat and moved her to slightly deeper water – she was swimming shallowly by this time.”

The whale has not been spotted since the refloat, with rescuers believing it has now swam into open water.

Top pic: PA