Whale has already been taken from the sea in Quarteira

The Fin Whale, measuring 17 meters and 22 tons, which washed ashore last Saturday, December 21st, in Quarteira, has already been removed from the sea. 

After yesterday's failed attempts, today, around 16:30 pm, it was finally possible to get the animal out of the water, in an operation that lasted almost all day.

At 9:00 am, there was a meeting with the coordination of the Maritime Authority, which was attended by the Municipality of Loulé, the Administration of the Hydrographic Region of the Algarve, Docapesca, the Regional Health Delegate, the Institute for Nature and Forest Conservation and the University of the Algarve.

«As yesterday we were unable to remove it by land, today we thought it would be good to try by sea, if there were technical conditions. That's why we held the evaluation meeting», explained Rocha Pacheco, commander of the Southern Maritime Zone, to our newspaper.

With the high tide, at 12:30 pm, a backhoe went into action that pushed the animal into the water. At that time, hundreds of people had gathered on the beach to see the whale, which had some swelling, due to the fact that it had been dead for two days.

«We took it away from land, drilled some holes to lose air and took it, with the help of a boat, to the quay of Doca de Quarteira», framed Rocha Pacheco to the Sul Informação.

There, «a net was passed underneath, straps were placed and we managed to get the animal out, with the help of a crane, placing it in a truck».

Now, work is underway to "tie up very well" the dead whale so that it can be transported "safely" to the Sotavento Sanitary Landfill, in Cortelha (Loulé).

The animal washed up last Saturday, on one of the beaches near the Calçadão de Quarteira, probably already dead. The first works to remove it from the water, that same day, were unsuccessful and the whale returned to the sea, carried by the force of the waves.

On Sunday, the cetacean returned to the coast, but on Rosa Branca beach, next to the Quarteira markets. After two days, the whale was finally removed from the water.