PEOPLE in Orkney have been warned to “stay away” from a beach where a pod of 23 whales were found dead last week.
The pilot whales were discovered on Roo Beach in Sanday on Sunday, with a large number of them appearing to have already been dead for a couple of days, volunteers at the Scottish Marine Animals Stranding Scheme believe.
Following the incident, the Orkney Islands Council has “strongly advised” local people and visitors to stay away from the area and that they are treating the incident as a “priority”.
The local authority said it is considering many options, including leaving the bodies of the whales where they are and “allowing nature to take its course”.
A spokesperson for the council said: “Following the stranding of 23 pilot whales at Roo Beach in Sanday, Orkney Islands Council is carefully working through options for how to handle the situation, including the option to leave the whales in situ and allowing nature to take its course.
“There are various factors at play, including the advanced state of decomposition of the whales and the location of the stranding. Discussions continue with a number of agencies and Sanday community representatives on agreed next steps.
“We would continue to strongly advise local people and visitors to stay away from the area.”
The pod included male whales up to seven metres (22ft) long as well as females, calves and juveniles.
A dozen that were still alive when they were discovered were later euthanised, according to the BBC.
A full investigation into the stranding is set to take place, the BBC said.
Last summer, 77 pilot whales washed ashore on the island in another mass stranding incident.
At the time, Molly Brown, who works for British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR), said that although the cause of the stranding was unknown, the whales are sociable and may have followed one of the groups that became stranded.
She said: “Pilot whales are incredibly sociable and so its possible that one of them stranded and the rest followed.
“It’s the largest one in a long time. We did have a mass stranding of 55 around this time last year on the Isle of Lewis.
“It’s a different part of Scotland – I don’t know if it’s just coincidence. There’s a lot of disturbance.”
