Dead whale mistaken for overturned yacht following lifeboat call-out in Cornwall
It was discovered in Looe Bay on Friday afternoon and measured around eight metres in length
Last updated 13th Mar 2021
Lifeboat crews in Cornwall were in for a bit of a shock after a call to an overturned yacht, was found to have been a whale carcass.
Crews from Looe RNLI were alerted at 12.28pm on Friday 12th March after Falmouth Coastguard Operations Centre received a report of what looked like a white overturned hull drifting in Looe Bay.
As crews approached the object, which was drifting half a mile south-east of the Rannies cardinal marker, they were able to see it was the decomposing carcass of a whale which measured approximately eight metres in length, with at least one-point-five metres of it out of the water.
After reporting the find to the coastguards, crews were stood down and returned to the station.
On arrival, crews said that were preparing themselves for the worst, as from a distance the object looked like the upturned hull of a yacht.
Whilst they were relieved that there were no persons in difficulty, they were saddened to find a dead whale.
They also added that the member of the public who made the initial call the right thing by immediately contacting the coastguards when they saw the object in the bay.