Beached whale to be put down after vets decide the 50ft wounded mammal is too sick to be refloated

By PHIL VINTER

Heartbreaking: Rescuers examine the female Fin whale as it lays stranded on the beach at Carolyn Bay in St Austell, Cornwall, this evening

Valiant efforts to save the life of an injured whale that became stranded on a beach in Cornwall have been dashed after vets said the animal was too sick to be refloated.
Beach walkers were stunned after they came across the giant 50ft whale Fin whale at Carolyn Bay in St Austell in Cornwal just before 5pm this afternoon.
Rescuers rushed to the scene to try and help the injured mammal get back into the sea but this evening vets from the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) said there was no hope of refloating the animal.

Helpless: The rescue workers try desperately to relax the 50ft long mammal as it fights to stay alive on the Cornish coast

Wellwishers: The area by the stranded whale was cordoned off, but a crowd remained at the beach this evening as locals hoped for a happy outcome

Discovery: Beach walkers had been left stunned after they came across the giant 50ft whale whale just before 5pm this afternoon


Hoping: Word of the stranded whale soon spread and local quickly descended on the spot where the animal had beached to get a glimpse of the huge underwater giant

Faye Archell of the BDMLR said destroying the animal was an 'incredibly difficult decision to take' but it was also in its best interests.
She added: 'It is incredibly under nourished and has a very high breathing rate which suggests it is very sick and distressed.'
The whale, stranded on an outgoing tide, was also injured around one eye and there were reports of a gash on its underside.

source: dailymail