Minke whale saved in dramatic Forth rescue
Matt Meade 1584 - 1584 • Last updated 30 Jul 2008 15:57
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LIMEKILNS residents had front row-seats for a dramatic rescue of a beached whale on Monday evening.
Around 20 residents attempted to save the stricken 16ft minke, named Morris by rescuers, after it got trapped on mudflats near the village's Capernaum Pier at around 9.30pm.
Just before midnight, after more than two hours of frantic rescue efforts involving the SSPCA, a vet, divers and the RNLI's South Queensferry lifeboat, Morris manoeuvred himself and swam off with the incoming tide back into the Forth.
Red Row resident Al Terris (75), who has lived in the village since 1946, was called upon to use his knowledge of local tides and sea depth to help out rescuers.
He said, 'Our street faces the water so we had a good view of the whale.
"It seemed to be trapped under an outfall pipe and was splashing about.
"Eventually, after a couple of hours it seemed to free itself but lay still for a while and we thought perhaps it was dead.
"But I guess it was just disorientated and after a while it simply swam off.
'I"ve never seen a whale before, and certainly not this far up the Forth, though I did once see a basking shark a while back. I"m glad there was a happy ending.'
Ian Cruickshank (37), owner of the Ship Inn at the promenade, said, 'I would say it was 50 yards in from the shore and looked fairly big - around 15 or 16 foot.
"I thought whales beach themselves so they can die, but this one looked quite lively.
"A lot of people were down helping pour water on it and phoning the rescue services and there were many more onlookers."
A coastguard spokesman said beached whales were not uncommon and that they dealt with two or three a year.
He added, 'This is the first incident we"ve been called to this year. A member of the public alerted us about Morris and luckily he managed to save himself by swimming away at 2300 hours.
'The last incident I can remember was a whale called Beamer who beached himself in North Fife last year. We"ll always respond to such calls."
This article appeared in Dunfermline Press 30 Jul 08
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