A dead whale has been found washed up on an Aberdeenshire beach.
The animal was discovered on Cruden Bay sands at around 9am on Saturday (24/08/2024) morning.
Locals alerted the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS).
Distressing images show the skin of the minke whale is badly decomposed meaning a post mortem can’t be carried out to ascertain the cause of death.
Aberdeenshire Council will be exploring options to remove the carcass.
Usually this involves either dragging the animal out to sea, burying on the beach or taking the whale to landfill.
A spokesperson for SMASS said: “We are aware of this animal and one of our volunteers went down to it to get more detailed photos, but unfortunately due to how decomposed it is we are unable to do any further research or conduct a post mortem.”
