The bid to save a 40ft fin whale, trapped in the Dee Estuary has ended in tragedy
The mammal which entered the estuary near Greenfield on Friday morning has died, HM Coastguard and fishermen at the scene.
Rescuers, including volunteers British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) have been at the estuary since Friday.
They were able to release it back into the sea initially but on Saturday, it returned to the Dee and has become trapped once again.
Rescuers have worked tirelessly to get the whale back on to the water and medics were at the scene yesterday.
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Cause of death
The whale is sadly thought to have been crushed by its own weight after spending hours out of the water.
Chances of survival were bleak after three day ordeal
The fin whale that has been trapped in the Dee Estuary for the past three days has died.
The 40 ft marine mammal had been swimming gingerly, zig zagging in shallow waters last night after spending much of the day beached.
Despite being back in the water, much of the damage had already been done by this point as experts feared that the whale’s chances of long term survival were bleak even if it did manage to swim off.
The rescue attempt
Here are some pictures of the exhaustive rescue attempt that has taken place over the past few days.
Fishermen and coastguard confirm that the whale has now died
Fishermen and coastguard say the whale is no longer breathing and have just confirmed that it has sadly died after spending three days trapped in the Dee Estuary.
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