THE OPERATION to remove the remains of 33 dead whales from a beach was declared a major success yesterday.
The pod of pilot whales was mysteriously grounded when the tide went out on Rutland Island off the coast of Co Donegal almost two weeks ago.
Plans to bury the pod in a mass grave on the 1.2km beach were met with protest by locals who claimed it could have a serious health risk.
Earlier this week Donegal County Council secured a licence to remove the whales, some measuring up to 20ft long, from the island and take them to Co Cavan to be incinerated.
At 7am yesterday, operation blubber, as it has been nicknamed by locals, finally got under way.
The local Arranmore fast ferry transported a truck to the island, which is just half a mile from Burtonport Harbour, where the remains filled two containers.
Ferry owner Séamus Boyle, who originally found the dead whales, said the three-hour operation went very well. “Everything went fine. In all, it took almost three hours to get the two trucks over and to remove two different loads of whales.
“I thought there would have been a smell from the whales but it wasn’t that bad at all.
“The area where the whales were was levelled off again and you would not know they were there,” he said. It was a relief to finally have the whales disposed of, he added.
Although the beach is uninhabited in the winter, there are several holiday homes on the island which are used throughout the summer months.
“People were genuinely afraid that the beach would be contaminated and now that has been sorted,” said Mr Boyle. “I think it was a sensible decision all round to have them removed.”
Last week members of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group removed skin samples from the whales for genetic and dating purposes.