The female sperm whale which died after stranding in Sligo this week has been towed successfully to a "natural grave" off Inishmurray island.
In spite of several hitches en route yesterday, the carcass was taken out to sea by the Irish Lights ship Granuaile, working with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).
It was released yesterday evening in a northwesterly swell close to the western shore of the uninhabited island, about 16km (10 miles) out. Sligo County Council said the intention was to let nature takes its course with the carcass, beached again in shallow water but clear of any habitation or navigational channels.
The "burial at sea" took almost 12 hours, and began at low tide yesterday at Culleenamore, where the 14-metre whale had found itself stranded, and had subsequently died, last Tuesday. The 80-metre Granuaile, which services lighthouses around this coastline, anchored about a mile offshore in Sligo Bay due to its draught.
Its master, Capt Dermot Gray, despatched two of its launches to the sandbank inside Ballysodare Bay. Working with the RNLI inshore lifeboat crew based in Sligo, and Sligo County Council personnel, the crew dug a trench around the whale's large tail flukes. Strops were then attached to the tail, which were secured to the launches, and the carcass was taken out through the narrow channel into deeper water.
"At one point the whale grounded again and we thought that that was it, and we were also slightly worried about the impact of the towing on the carcass," Capt Kieran O'Higgins, Irish Lights spokesman, said. Once the tow was transferred to the Granuaile the ship headed out at a slow but steady speed to Inishmurray.
Capt Gray said it was a "worthwhile humane mission, and we are delighted that it has been successful".
Sligo Council Council, which hopes to display part of the whale's jaw in the proposed new Sligo museum, paid tribute to the Leitrim and Sligo Civil Defence Units, the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), the captain and crew of the Granuaile, and the crew of the Sligo RNLI at Rosses Point.
A full scientific record of the whale was made. The NPWS reiterated that the carcass is still a protected wild animal, and trading associated with it is illegal.