Rescuers succeeded in shepherding the female northern bottlenose into the neighbouring Loch Linnhe and on toward Corran Narrows, which leads to open water.
The whale could, not, however, be persuaded to traverse that channel. It tired over the next days and died in Loch Linnhe.
The rescue effort was conducted by British Divers Marine Life Rescue, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, the Scottish SPCA, St Andrews Sea Mammal Research Unit, and local Coastguard and sailing club members.
A post mortem is being carried out to determine how the whale died. Details of its general condition will be added to a national database, held by London's Natural History Museum, which records the states of stranded whales and other cetaceans.
Whales can diverge from their normal routes through illness or, as healthy animals, navigational confusion, often brought about by distracting sounds from shipping or other operations.
*Another northern bottlenose whale has been washed up dead on Prestatyn beach, Denbighshire in North Wales. Arrangements have been made to remove the carcass after examination by a Natural History Museum pathologist.
Related links
Gilbert is gone
Whale of a time – hopefully
Rare humpback stranding
Fundraiser for strandings
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