A dead whale has washed up on the shore close to one of the most popular beaches in Angus.
The female minke washed up on the rocks to the far south of the beach during high tide at around 1am on Saturday.
The animal’s corpse is currently stranded on the rocks close to the village of Ethie Haven, a small cluster of former fishing cottages that are now holiday homes.
Jules Anderson, who has a voluntary role with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and lives locally, said she was asked to come down to the coastline shortly after the body appeared.
She said: “I just find it so sad. It is so awful to see.”
She said she had informed experts from the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS), which should carry out a full investigation into the exact cause of death.
“The inaccessible nature of the point meant that it would not be possible to dispose of the body with machinery,” she added.
“If we get another big, big tide then that might wash it away. But that is going to Tuesday, if it is going to happen.
“It is difficult to say what has happened to her as she has been bashed up against the rocks by the tide.
“There is some damage to the tailfin, which suggests an entanglement, but we can’t say that for sure.”
She said the body has initially been “very fresh” but it was already starting to decompose.
“It is starting to blow. It is beginning to fill up with gas. They just get bigger and bigger then in two or three day’s time it might burst open.”
Dead whales and other large sea creatures regularly wash up on the Angus coastline, posing problems as to how best to dispose of the remains.
Arbroath joiner Lee Mitchell discovered a 20ft minke on Lunan Bay in 2018 while he was working on a beach hut with his dad in 2018.
Last year, the council put up signs to warn beachgoers in Monifieth to steer clear of the uncovered remains of a dead whale.
Workers had buried the whale after it became stranded and later died on a stretch of shoreline between Monifieth and Barry Buddon in 2018.
