Whale

Barely a cloud in the clear sky of blue
Golden sands beside the deep sea of blue
Seashore birds puzzle over the strange sight
Beside the jagged rocks, a worrying sight
Unable to utter a cry or a wail
Is the sad sight of an injured dead whale.

My blip for today was to be the hundreds of birds foraging on the ebbing tide at the mouth of the Esk. It’s an area well loved by bird spotters and there were certainly plenty to see this afternoon. Barely two kilometres away, huge crowds had gathered to see a poor dead whale which appeared to have massive injuries, perhaps caused by a ship and was now lying just off shore of Edinburgh’s Joppa beach. The Coastguard and various animal welfare groups were in discussion about what to do with the whale which apparently is a juvenile sperm male. So many people were taking photos so I expect there will be several on the blip site and I wondered whether to add this but then decided that as it’s a record of things I have seen I would do so because I can see the foraging birds again. It was a really sad sight to see such a gentle giant of the seas and I hope that its fellow companions don’t try to find it as they are generally such social creatures and try to look after each other.

A RARE SIGHT IN THE UK: THE ANIMAL WITH THE BIGGEST BRAIN ON EARTH
Sperm whales are carnivorous mammals, which usually grow to the size of a bus, often weighing more than 40 tons.
Listed as an endangered species, the animal can grow to as long as around 20 metres.
They have the largest brain of any creature on the earth and eat thousands of pounds of fish and squid every day.
Sperm whales are normally found in groups, or pods, of around 15 to 20, according to National Geographic.
Sightings in Scotland are rare, although last year a pod of 14 were spotted in Firth of Forth.
The year before, a pod of 26 pilot whales were washed up in Pittenweem, Fife.