A DEAD humpback whale which washed up on a beach in East Lothian has been moved.

The 30ft-long whale, which is believed to be a male, was found at John Muir Country Park, near Tyninghame, yesterday (Tuesday).

The whale has been confirmed by East Lothian Council as the same juvenile humpback which had been spotted moving up and down the Firth of Forth recently after being caught on a buoy.

It was towed off the beach on Tuesday evening by Dunbar’s lifeboat crew.

Gary Fairbairn, coxswain, said that the tow rope snapped twice during the operation, adding: “It was more awkward than anything else because we were dealing with a dead weight. When you add to that the considerable drag in the water, it was a tricky task.”

The operation, the third time the lifeboat crew had been tasked to help move a whale in recent years, took six hours.

Gary added: “It is always good to be able to assist and help the countryside rangers and, for us, it turned into a worthwhile training exercise.”

The whale was moved to Skateraw, near Torness Power Station, so that a port-mortem could be performed on the animal.

It will be carried out by the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS).

Nick Davison, a stranding co-ordinator with SMASS, said: “By doing a post-mortem we can find out for certain whether the rope line directly caused the animal’s death. Also, it’s important to find out not just how it died but how it lived. We can learn a lot about population and diet, which will help us know more about these incredible animals.

“The post-mortem will take around two to three hours on an animal this size.”

Although a humpback whale has not washed up on the shores of Scotland in roughly three years, SMASS reported about 900 stranded sea animals last year.