RESCUERS are hopeful that a humpback whale which was stranded on the south of Scotland's coastline will make a full recovery after it was refloated.
British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) were alerted to the stranding off the coast of Southerness as the tide was lowering at around 3.30pm on Tuesday.
Members of the public reported hearing thuds of the whale thrashing its tail flukes, desperately trying to manoeuvre itself off the sand as the water around it receded, the BDMLR said.
The organisation said the 9m (30ft) long whale was lucky it did not have to wait long for the returning tide to wash over the area to refloat it.
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Checks by rescuers the following day found no sign of the whale and medics said they would monitor the coastline over the coming days to ensure it does not get stranded again.
BDMLR said humpback whale strandings in the UK are “very few and far between” having only responded to a handful of incidents.
The group said the beach in Southerness was almost entirely flat which meant that a large area of sand and rocks was left completely dry at low tide leading to the whale being stranded.
BDMLR said the whale appeared to be in “moderate condition” when they arrived at the scene, apart from some signs of stress.
An alert was sent to local Marine Mammal Medics to attend the scene as well while a local couple collected pictures of the whale to share with rescuers while they made their way to the scene.
“As it began to tire, it seemed to calm down and its breathing relaxed," said a member from BDMLR.
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“By this time, the whale was drawing some attention from locals, but crowds were controlled as our medics and the coastguard arrived, allowing us to decide on the best course of action.
“Large baleen whales are notoriously difficult to respond to due to their sheer size and weight making them impossible to move safely, so all we could do was ensure the whale was as comfortable as possible with first aid provision.”
The whale was only stranded for a couple of hours before it was able to refloat.
A medic went to check on the whale at the crack of dawn on Wednesday to see if rescuer's “hopes had come true”.
“Thankfully, there was no sign of the whale along the coast or for about a mile offshore, however, this doesn’t necessarily mean we won’t see it again," said the BDMLR.
“Medics will be monitoring the coastline over the coming days to check if it has restranded.
“We hope the humpback recovers fully and was merely caught out by the huge tides in this region.”
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