A young minke whale found washed ashore on Garrylucas Beach near the Old Head of Kinsale has been identified as severely malnourished, according to marine experts investigating the incident.
Specialists from the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group examined the carcass after local beachgoers reported the discovery over the weekend. Initial assessments confirmed the animal was a minke whale, one of the species most commonly stranded along the Irish coastline.
“This is an emaciated minke whale, Ireland’s most frequently stranded baleen whale species,” said IWDG Stranding Officer Stephanie Levesque. “We don’t know exactly why it died, though it is clear from the images that it had not fed in quite some time.”
The whale was inspected by members of the organisation’s volunteer stranding network, who gathered photographs and tissue samples as part of an ongoing marine conservation programme. The samples will be added to the Irish Cetacean Genetic Tissue Bank, maintained by the National Museum of Ireland.
Local resident Breda O’Mahony said she came across the scene while visiting the beach with her daughters.
“There were a lot of people gathered near the water, and someone was warning people not to touch the whale in case it was diseased or toxic,” she said.
“It looked very unusual and nobody seemed to know what type of whale it was. It was sad to see.”
Marine biologists are continuing to examine the remains in an effort to determine the exact cause of death. The IWDG has encouraged members of the public to report any whale or dolphin strandings to the organisation as sightings and strandings remain common along the Cork coastline, particularly during the summer months.
County Cork has become well known for marine wildlife activity, attracting visitors each year hoping to catch sightings of whales and dolphins off the south coast. In a separate incident last year, the decomposed carcass of a fin whale washed ashore in West Cork, showing evidence of shark scavenging.
