The Irish Lights ship Granuaile will attempt to tow the dead body of a 14m (46ft) sperm whale out to sea today, following its beaching on the Sligo coastline earlier this week.
The tender, owned by the Commissioners of Irish Lights, is due into the Ballisodare Bay area early today and will endeavour to make the tow at high tide at about 1pm.
Sligo County Council officials will work with the Irish Lights crew and maintain an exclusion zone around the body on a sandbank off Culleenamore Strand. The 40- to 50-year-old female got caught on unusually low spring tides on Tuesday morning and found itself trapped about half a mile offshore.
It died on Tuesday evening and has only moved slightly in the tides since then.
The local authority has been anxious to ensure the mammal is protected from "trophy hunters".