Body of whale discovered at nature reserve after washing up on beach

Nature Scotland were alerted after the carcass was found at Loch Fleet in Sutherland on Thursday.

Body of dead whale discovered on sand bank after washing up on Loch Fleet, Sutherland Highland Croft/@highland_croft via Supplied

The body of a dead whale has washed up on a beach in the Highlands.

Nature Scotland confirmed that the animal carcass was found on a sand bank at Loch Fleet nature reserve, in Sutherland, on Thursday.

The stranded whale was believed to be a juvenile humpback. It is unknown at this stage what caused the death.

A spokesperson for Nature Scotland said: “Sadly, we can confirm that a dead whale has been found on the sand banks at Loch Fleet.

The whale was discovered on Thursday. (Image: Highland Croft/@highland_croft via Supplied)Highland Croft/@highland_croft via Supplied
The animal's carcass is going to be assessed. (Image: Highland Croft/@highland_croft via Supplied)Highland Croft/@highland_croft via Supplied

“We have reported it to the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS).”

A spokesperson for SMASS confirmed they were going to attempt to examine the sea animal on Thursday – however they also revealed it could be difficult to move it due to the location of the stranding.

Nick Davison, research associate, said: “We do know about it and we are going to attempt to examine it later on Thursday.

“Its on a sandbank in Loch Fleet so we might not be able to do much.”

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