Elusive deep-diving whale washes up on south of Scotland beach
David HendersonA deep-diving beaked whale has died after becoming stranded on a beach in the south of Scotland.
Staff at a nearby hotel raised the alarm after spotting the animal in Balcary Bay near Auchencairn earlier this week.
It is believed to be a Sowerby's beaked whale and the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS) hopes to carry out an examination in the coming days.
The whales are a deep-diving species, rarely seen at sea and can spend long periods underwater hunting squid and fish.
The Sowerby's beaked whale was the first of the beaked whales species to be discovered after one stranded in the Moray Firth in north-east Scotland in 1800.
Two stranded at Ardersier on the Moray Firth coast east of Inverness in 2022.
The Irish Marine Institute, which has researched beaked whales, said the animals were known to dive to depths of 8,202ft (2,500m) for an hour at a time.