Tuesday 16 June 2015

Plight of a Pilot



Over a week ago I came across a video on Facebook of a half submerged, half floating carcass of an as yet unidentifiable toothed whale.
I correctly identified this animal for the unsure person as a Long-finned Pilot whale going by its bulbous head, muscular demeanor, well rounded dorsal fin and of course it's long pectoral fins or flippers. The animal was rather well rotten in the video and it also appeared to be the same carcass reported floating near the Lemon rock to the North of Lambs head days earlier before managing to manoeuvre itself into a well protected natural harbour at Lambs head. 
It was dead over two weeks and resembled melted cheese in some spots, it was also largely yellow as its black skin had peeled away since its death somewhere at sea, probably miles offshore in the deeper waters in which this sociable species is commonly sighted.
The whales white oil/blubber underwater looking like drying paint.

After seeing the video and subsequent still shots of this bull Pilot whales teeth I decided to take a trip back to Derrynane to possibly obtain a tooth to figure out how old this whale was.
That Saturday was a dreary affair inundated with thick misty rain that could soak you considerably in very little time.
It took no time at all to find the whales carcass as it was at the side of the pier but set Hong was up, quite literally... The tide.
The whales bloated body floated in the narrow cove over some ten foot of water, and I didn't fancy a swim in the whale oil filled waters so all I could do was watch from above of this animals bizarre yet amazingly streamlined body bob in the calm provided in the rocky cove. It was my second ever encounter with a Pilot but both individuals were dead.
I was asked how did it die but there's no way of telling when a whale is in the state that bull was. Interestingly the rock face opposite the carcass appeared as if it had been painted recently by a white substance which rolled downwards as if it were excess bits of paint all while being underwater!
Note the fence post that was probably used to take the whales teeth.

I returned the following day on the second low tide, the whale was once again in place but this time it was land bound. It's carcass looked like a twenty foot rag doll just tossed onto the rocks in an untimely manner. After dining a pair of wellies I made my way down the grassy trail to the whales shingle beach. Being careful not to touch anything and picking my footholds carefully to avoid slipping on the whales oil I passed both the unknown paint like substance plastered on the rock face to my right which was not clearly a combination of oil,flesh and blubber a refreshing combination! While doing so I passed a fence post with a noticeable wet patch near its point, then it was upon me. Despite being right next to a fairground well rotten carcass I didn't get effected by its faint smell or displeasing look. Angling my head so as to gaze into its mouth without touching the rocks right by it, it was clear that the teeth were gone most likely because the nearby fence post was used by some one to prop the whales mouth open during the previous low tide earlier that morning, alas the teeth were gone but the carpals or finger bones on one of the Pilot whales flippers were strewn across the narrow strand like white shells.
Part of one of the Pilot's pectoral fins skeletal structure.

Climbing up from the strand and looking down on the carcass it's amazing how many species are out there beyond the horizon but tragic that such encounters are often the only way you might experience such a mammal for yourself in the flesh!
A somewhat graphic view of the bulls head.

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