Conservation group pleads for return of 15ft narwhal corpse

A conservation group has appealed for the return of a 15ft whale that is believed to have been removed by persons unknown from a north Clare beach.

Experts believe the missing whale is a narwhal, which would make it the first confirmed sighting of the species in Ireland.

Narwhals are a year-round Arctic species and are distinguished by a long tusk that can grow up to 3m long, giving them the nickname “unicorn of the sea”.

Dr Simon Berrow of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) appealed to whoever removed the whale to make contact with the group so that the remains can be transferred to the Natural History Museum in Dublin for posterity.

The group said that if it could prove a narwhal was stranded, “it would be an important find, as this is a first for Ireland bringing to 25 the number of cetacean species recorded in our waters”.

Dr Berrow said it would have taken two to three people to remove the whale from the roadside next to the beach, north of Liscannor village.

Last week, Shannon man Max Halliday came across the whale and told the IWDG he saw an animal “with the tusk the length of a hurley” protruding from its head.

Dr Berrow said that when IWDG volunteers got to the location “the whale was gone. We searched high and low. You could smell it, but you couldn’t find it”.

Mr Halliday said yesterday: “I am convinced that what I saw is a narwhal. It had the long tusk protruding from its head, but its head was badly damaged.”

He had a camera but never took a photo of the mammal.

“I am absolutely mad that I didn’t take a photo. I am notorious for taking photos all the time, but for some unknown reason I didn’t take the photo. There were two women who were out on a walk at the time that I met than can corroborate what I saw.”

Dr Berrow said the IWDG had taken tissue samples from where the whale was and these have been sent to the Netherlands to confirm whether the whale was a narwhal.

He discounted the whale being washed back out to sea.

“The sea was calm last week so it was unlikely that it was washed away ... You can see the imprint where the whale was lying and it looks like it has been removed.”

Dr Berrow said that trading of the narwhal tusk was illegal, but expressed doubt if there was any market for such tusks.

However, he warned that a lingering smell may be on anyone involved in the removal of the whale.

“Whales are very, very smelly and whale and dolphin flesh clings to you because of heavy oil content. If you handle a piece of whale even through gloves, your hands would stink for days afterward. It would have been a smelly job.”