A young humpback whale which was found dead on a Connemara beach at the weekend had been filmed by a BBC documentary team just over a week before off the Kerry coastline.
A postmortem carried out yesterday by Dr Simon Berrow of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group concluded that it was the same marine mammal. Cause of death is as yet unknown, but the calf had a plastic bag in its stomach.
The 6m whale may still have been suckling or may have weaned only recently. It was on its own when captured on film off the Great Blasket and Beginish, while it was also sighted off Inch strand earlier this month.
Its remains were reported on a beach at Inverin, Co Galway, at the weekend.
"A video grab sent to us by the BBC of the top of its tail fluke shows the same indentations," Dr Berrow said. "It was quite emaciated and there were no ropes attached to it, which can often be a problem, given that humpbacks are naturally very curious."
Humpback whale strandings are relatively rare in Irish waters with only six on whale and dolphin group records over the past century. Previous incidents here have included a young humpback at Roscarbery, Co Cork, in 1989 and on the Antrim coastline two years ago.
Last year, a humpback swam into Cardigan Bay in Wales with a buoy wrapped around its tail which was traced back to Tory island, Co Donegal.
