RNLI lifeboat crew, RSPCA inspectors and Coastguard staff attended the rescue in North Wales
An unexpected visitor to a North Wales beach had to be rescued last
night.
Volunteer lifeboat crew were called to assist a 10-metre long minke whale, which had taken a wrong turn
and ended up too close to dry land.
The crewmembers assisted staff from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) and coastguard
teams to encourage
the whale back in deeper water so it could swim away.
Rhyl’s
RNLI all-weather and inshore lifeboats were
launched at 2.50pm yesterday and several volunteer crew members were ferried
ashore at Pensarn,
Abergele to assist RSPCA inspectors and staff, and local
coastguard teams from Rhyl and Llandudno.
The crews were briefed by the RSPCA inspector before going alongside
the minke whale. The two RNLI lifeboats and its volunteer crew
shepherded the whale into deeper water.
An RNLI spokesman said: ‘The mammal was rather disorientated, but the crews escorted it into
deep water, hoping it would find it’s way back to the deeper sea.’