A post-mortem examination on a 23 ft whale that died after beaching on the shores of Bartragh Island, off Killala Bay in north Mayo, on Tuesday, is to be carried out tomorrow.
The village of Killala was described as being "in mourning" following the death of the female northern bottle-nosed whale be- cause of the strenuous efforts made to return it safely to the sea.
These mammals are unusual visitors to the area and this was just the fourth of her species to have been stranded in Irish waters in the past century.
Three others were beached up off Beara Island in Cork last year, two of which were successfully refloated. The other died, ac- cording to marine biologist at University College, Cork, Dr Emer Rogan, who is to conduct the post-mortem over the weekend.
She paid tribute yesterday to the Marine Rescue Service and all local fishing, environmental people and divers, who, despite having succeeded in the task of refloating the mammal during high tide on Wednesday night, witnessed her subsequent return to the shores where she is believed to have died early yesterday morning.
"We don't know the cause of death yet, whether it was due to drowning or other- wise, but this is a possibility as there was a lot of water coming in which could have covered the whale's blow hole for a long time," Dr Rogan said.
The disposal of the whale's body, which is estimated at between four and six tonnes, will be carried out either by burying the carcass on site, or by floating it out to sea.