Free Willy in Mayo - young whale frees itself on west coast – VIDEO

A whale of a tale as amazing footage displays tenacity of young mammal

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Bertra Beach Mayo

Photo by Google Images

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A young minke whale managed to free itself from a Mayo beach last week, after it became temporarily stranded.

Conor McGuire and some friends found the 4-5 meter whale last Tuesday June 5, after  it got trapped in some shingle at Bertra Beach on the west coast. The group captured  amazing footage of the mammal’s efforts to free itself.

After about three minutes of struggling in the water’s edge the baby whale managed to free itself and head back out into the waters of Clew Bay.

Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG)’s stranding co-ordinator, Mick O’Connell,  said such beaching episodes usually end tragically as the animal becomes disorientated and stressed.

He commented on the IWDG website: “Sometimes it is hard to avoid the temptation to jump in and get involved in coaxing the cetacean back into deeper water. But hats off to Conor [McGuire] and friends, who quite rightly gave the whale as much time as it needed to correct the situation. That said, if this animal is in poor condition with an underlying illness, it may well re-strand, but fingers crossed this won’t occur.”

Watch the footage below:

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