Pictures show a huge eight-hour operation deemed the largest of its kind to move a 30tonne whale carcass from a British beach. Onlookers at Bridlington Beach, East Riding of Yorks., were left stunned when they stumbled upon a 17m long grounded fin whale.
The 55ft mammal had been swimming along the coast in the North Sea before it got into trouble before grounding and tragically dying. Experts feared that the huge whale would have to be dissected in order to remove it from the popular beach.
But contractors were able to lift the giant mammal onto a trailer using JCB diggers to maneuver the carcass in a grueling eight-hour operation. The body was successfully removed at just after 4pm on Friday in an operation that the council have described as the 'largest of its kind'.
A spokesperson for East Riding of Yorkshire Council said: “This has been an incredibly challenging and difficult operation – the largest of its kind we’ve ever dealt with. This was a really sad incident for all involved."
The fin whale is the second largest species of whale in the world, with some reported to measure up to 20m long.
Photographer Steve Shipley captured the mammoth task while out walking along the beach.
He said: "The whale was grounded on Bridlington Beach on Tuesday and died after grounding. Today it was removed from the beach on a low loader lorry.
"It took them eight hours to remove it from the beach before a journey to Sheffield. It was 17m long and around 30-tonnes."
