The Kilbrittain Whale
On 15 January 2009 an 18 metre fin whale was stranded and subsequently died on a beach in Kilbrittain, after becoming disorientated and lured by unusually high tides. Efforts were made by Courtmacsherry Lifeboat to get the whale back into the sea but a combination of its size and weight meant that attempts to save the whale's life were unsuccessful. The people of Kilbrittain organised to save the its remains which are now displayed in the village.
The whale was featured in a Channel 4 documentary "Inside Nature's Giants" which showed autopsies of large mammals. It is still viewable on the Channel 4 website '4oD'.
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Famous quotes containing the word whale:
“In clear weather the laziest may look across the Bay as far as Plymouth at a glance, or over the Atlantic as far as human vision reaches, merely raising his eyelids; or if he is too lazy to look after all, he can hardly help hearing the ceaseless dash and roar of the breakers. The restless ocean may at any moment cast up a whale or a wrecked vessel at your feet. All the reporters in the world, the most rapid stenographers, could not report the news it brings.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)