Updated at 2.37pm

[Image: Tom Honeyman]

A STEADY STREAM of people have been making trips to Keel Beach on Achill Island over the last few days to the spot where a 20 metre fin whale which stranded on the shoreline on Christmas Eve.

According to local RNLI officers, the mammal was alive when it beached, but died a few hours later.

The Irish Whale and Dolphin group says that although the whale is dead, “it is still a fantastic opportunity to witness the second largest animal on the planet close up”:

IWDG chair Willie Meuhlausen travelled up to take samples including skin, blubber, muscle and baleen as well as photographs.

It is not possible to tel from photographs supplied by Tom Honeyman from Achill whether the whale was in poor condition when it stranded.

The fate of the whale is not known but it will most likely remain on Keel beach over the next few days.

Achill Coast Guard say that, in view of the current stormy conditions, they’re urging people not to venture into the surf to view the whale, which they say can be easily viewed from the shore.