Sperm whale makes its final journey in HGV

20/01/2014

The large toothed predator was washed ashore on the Edinburgh beach on Saturday and immediately presented local authorities with a conundrum.

One of the options is to let the animal remain where it is and allow nature to take its course, but this would only be feasible in a remote area.

Thus, the giant sperm whale made its final journey in the back of a lorry to a nearby landfill site, where an autopsy can be safely conducted.

The 26-tonne sperm whale was discovered dead at Portobello beach outside Edinburgh on Saturday.

The 13.8 metre carcass was hoisted into a huge waste container - with its massive tail fin sticking out the back - and taken to the landfill site in Dunbar, East Lothian.

Marine experts will go to the landfill site and carry out a post mortem to discover the cause of death.