A GROUP OF locals in a Co Kerry town managed to get a Minke whale back to open water yesterday, after an hours-long effort.
The mammal was found beached around two miles inland, upriver past the Roughty Bridge – having swum from Kenmare Bay.
Local vet Henk Offereins said that when he arrived at the scene, at around lunchtime yesterday, the whale was being kept alive with buckets of water.
People were trying to drag the animal back to deeper water using a tarpaulin.
He checked the whale out, and found that its skin had been damaged from the beaching – but it appeared otherwise okay.
Once it was steered back to deep water, two boats were used to help guide it back out to the bay.
“It kept turning back and turning back, but once we got out it started swimming, and it headed out to sea,” Offereins said.
There was always a danger, in such circumstances, that the whale could beach itself again, he said – but so far this morning there have been no sightings in the area.
Mairead Hayes, who took the photos published here, said one local donned a wetsuit to help guide the whale out.
The group spent the entire afternoon carrying out the rescue effort – finishing up with daylight to spare, at around 7.30pm.
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