BEACH walkers were stunned to come across a massive whale skull washed up on the shore.
Samuel Watkiss, 24, a keen surfer and environmentalist from Yorkshire Dales, stumbled upon the ‘unusual’ sight whilst out for a walk with his fiancée, Emelie Persson.
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The significant sperm whale bone was spotted on Traigh Thodhrasdail beach, on the Scottish island Tiree in the Inner Hebrides.
Samuel said: “We knew it was part of a whale but we weren’t sure which part – or even which species! I had to take some photos.”
After posting on Facebook, Samuel found out the skull the pair had found had been separated from a decomposing sperm whale body – which was originally found in its entirety in June last year.
Hayley, a Tiree Ranger working for Tiree Community Development Trust, received a message about a dead whale coming ashore at The Maze and was expecting to find a minke.
However, she was left “totally surprised” to find that instead, it was a 15-metre long adult male Sperm Whale.
She explained: “It has been dead for a very long time and came in on the high tides.
“Only one or two Sperm Whales are seen off the Hebrides every year and this was certainly an unusual find.
“The whale has been recorded for Scottish Marine Animal Strandings Scheme as well as to the Receiver of Wrecks & Coastguard as it is classed as a royal fish which in Scotland means it belongs to the Scottish Government.”
Sperm Whales are deep sea diving whales that can go down to three kilometres and use echolocation to find their favourite prey, Giant Squid, says Hayley.
She added: “There’s no way to tell what happened to this individual but its teeth are worn so it may be old age, although some look to have been smashed by the carcass being dragged along the seabed.
“The tides during the following days after it had been washed up caused the skull to become detached and it is lying about 80m along from the rest of the whale.”
It comes just one month after a huge whale carcass washed up on Irvine Beach in Ayrshire.
The body of the 23ft minke whale was discovered on December 16.
Crowds of onlookers gathered around the marine mammal to catch a glimpse.
But cops had to issue a warning urging people to keep away saying the carcass could explode at any minute.
WHY DO WHALES EXPLODE?
Whales are so large that they produce even more gases when they die and start to decompose.
These gases build up inside the carcass, causing the skin to stretch.
If too much pressure builds up, the whale will explode and can injure anyone caught in the bodily blast.
Another whale carcass ended up on Scottish shores last September.
Another minke, this one 25ft, was found on Lunan Bay in Montrose.
It is believed the creature died after getting tangled in fishing gear.
Mass whale tragedy on Scots beach
Treness Beach on Orkney was the scene of a horrific tragedy last July when more than 70 whales died on the shores.
An entire pod of 77 pilot whales washed ashore and was one of the biggest tragedies of its kind in decades.
Just 12 of the sea beasts initially survived the beaching but had to be euthanised.
Devastating images showed the row of carcasses lined up on the beach as the entire pod was lost.
Experts believe the mammals were feeding nearby when they got stuck on the shores.
They believe the sands in shallow waters would have made it hard for them to detect the beach.
It is also understood a pod of orcas – also known as killer whales – were hunting nearby.
The iconic black and white sea mammals are a danger to pilot whales, as they often chase and antagonise them as they are competing for food.
Read more on the Scottish Sun
Investigators say one possibility is in the rush to evade the ocean predators, the pilot whales ended up washing ashore.
In a similar tragedy, over 50 pilot whales died after washing up on the Isle of Lewis in 2023.
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