Experts point to minke whale washed ashore near Klitmøller

A dead whale has washed ashore on a beach between Klitmøller and Vangså in North Jutland, with a beach warden and whale researcher saying it is most likely a minke whale, DR reports.

A beachgoer discovered the whale the day before and alerted local beach warden Mads Ring. He visited the beach to photograph the animal so the information could be recorded in the systems of the Natural History Museum of Denmark and the Danish Nature Agency, according to TV Midtvest.

Ring estimates that the whale is about nine metres long and 120 centimetres wide. It has no teeth and a striped pouch beneath its jaw, which led him to conclude that it belongs to the baleen whale group.

“It is probably a minke whale,” Ring told DR News.

Whale researcher Carl Kinze, who is affiliated with the Natural History Museum of Denmark, gave the same assessment to Ritzau based on the description. He said a sei whale was also possible, but that further examination would be needed.

Ring said the whale had probably been dead for some time before washing ashore. Its body has turned white, which he also attributed to the length of time it had been dead.

A minke whale is a species in the fin whale family, which belongs to the baleen whale group.

Another dead minke whale washed ashore at Tornby Beach south of Hirtshals in July. It was eventually removed because the smell from the carcass disturbed beachgoers.